Ballad of the Femme Fatale
by SecretEngima
Summary: A collection of glimpses and snapshots of the life of Milena Cherep, also known as Skull De Mort, and whispered of as Femme Fatale in a world where Will is Flame, her family is a cranky Sky and his Elements, and her big sister is a refugee from the stars. Enter if you dare, but beware of flying knives, world-ending disasters, and Autobot/Mafia playdates.
1. First Stanza: In Which It All Begins

**Hello all! So ... yes, I know I already have three stories and a one-shot collection already on-going, but this plot-bunny was adopted and deserved immediate attention. This is not going to be one of my priority stories (Amongst Untrodden Ways and A Melody of Second Chances get that distinction, as does A Strange Pikachu in a Strange Land if I can get it to work with me again) but I will try to work on this one as regularly as possible. Please note that I am very, very knew to the Katekyo Hitman Reborn world and know it mostly by fan fiction, what little of the anime I have currently watched, and whatever info I can glean from the Wiki. This is also a crossover in which the main character is a Fem!Skull, so expect things to be AU. Exactly what degree it will be AU is up for debate, but things will change from plot to character interaction to random world-building facts, so you have been warned.**

 **While we are on the subject of Fem!Skull, this story is actually not originally mine. I was kindly allowed to adopt it by wolfsrainrules, who wrote a one-shot about Fem!Skull in an adoptables collection called Flicker. The chapter this is based off of/adopted from is called Femme (again, in the story named Flicker that belongs to wolfsrainrules) and I highly, highly recommend you read that if you want to know at least a little of what I'm going for here. Though, just another warning, that one-shot was not a crossover, so things will be different from that one-shot too.**

 **Also, in this chapter, the scenes are in italics are written primarily in present tense rather than past tense, which is why they are in italics. Consider them more in-depth snapshots in the basic overview of Fem!Skull's early life.**

 **Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Transformers, or any of their terms. The only things I own are my OCs, my interpretation of Fem!Skull (which I adopted from wolfsrainrules), and the plot.**

* * *

 **First Stanza: In Which It All Begins**

 **Pre-Year Five:**

Milena Cherep's first memory was of her papa, the infamous stuntman Nicholas Cherep, setting her atop his stunt bike and chuckling at her delight while he and the bike walked slow circles around the perimeter of the huge circus tent in which he performed.

Her second memory, as well as her third, or even fourth, was of waiting for her papa to return to the tent while being held close to a warm, thrumming chest as a low, feminine voice told stories in words that sounded like softly rasping metal parts, birdlike chirps, and the click of gears that came to make as much sense to her childish mind as her father's native Russian.

She had another memory, dim and rarely called upon, of the woman she had called mama. There wasn't much she remembered about Mama save for what her papa told her, like how her mother had been an acrobat and had died when she made a mistake in mid-air during practice, and that even though Milena's mama was gone she had loved her daughter very, very much. Her papa told her that she was too young to remember mama, but that that was okay too.

However, sometimes in her sleep, Milena would dream of a graceful figure, twisting and flying in the air high above and a high, tinkling laugh that made her think of home. Those rare occurrences would have made her lonely for her mama, but then her papa or his partner would tell her stories and hold her close and she wouldn't feel lonely anymore.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Year Five:**

It didn't occur to her until she was five years old to ask why people who had just joined the circus looked at her strangely or laughed whenever she spoke of the tall metal person her papa's bike could turn into. Or when she repeated the stories his metallic stunt partner told to her of far off worlds, metal giants, and a sky in which the stars shone both day and night.

That was when she was told that she needed to keep those things secret, or else someone would come and take away her father's bike forever. Milena was only five, but she had lived in a traveling circus all her life and seen how sometimes things would get taken away from her family by the people who ran the various countries they visited. She had been taught from a young age when to hide and when to pretend. She had already known to not speak of her father's "magic bike" or her stories in front of Outsiders, Milena just hadn't been aware that the same rules applied to those who had just joined the circus.

After that, she never spoke of it in front of someone who her father had not spoken about it to first. She didn't want her big sister to get taken away after all.

Silhouette was a very tall big sister, fifteen feet in height when she wasn't a motorcycle, with dark black flames curling up her red frame to match Nicholas's uniform. Her eyes, or optics as Milena would later learn to call them, were a deep ruby that brightened or dimmed in an entrancing manner according to her mood.

Of course, she rarely transformed out of her motorcycle form, only doing so when it was just the three of them in the tent and she needed to drink her fuel. After she had done that, Silhouette would pick Milena up in her huge hand, hold her close to her chest, and murmur stories to Milena about where Silhouette had come from. A far-off world made of metal, filled with beings just like Silhouette, who could transform from metal giants into cars and trucks and motorcycles, or even things called jets that could fly faster than any bird.

When there was someone in the tent who did not already know about Silhouette's true form, Silhouette made a strange moving, talking, touchable picture of a young teen with dark brown eyes and long hair the same rich purple as Milena's and Nicholas's. When there were people in the tent and Silhouette had her moving picture out, Nicholas addressed the picture as "Yelena" and the picture in turn called Nicholas "father" or "papa".

It confused Milena, but since it kept Silhouette a secret, she didn't really bother her head about what the picture called her papa. Instead, she waited until they were alone and pestered Silhouette about what the picture was, how Silhouette made it, and if Milena could learn to make one too.

Silhouette called the picture a hologram, and said that no, Milena could not learn how to make one. She then launched into a long, detailed explanation of **why** Milena couldn't learn how to make the moving picture that went completely over the little girl's head after the "you can't because-".

Milena just decided to believe it was because she didn't have the same magic that let Silhouette turn into her father's stunt motorcycle and left it at that.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Year Six:**

Milena turned six years old the same day she died for the first time.

For her birthday present, her papa and Silhouette, using her Yelena picture, had promised to take her sightseeing around the town in which the circus was performing the next day. She had been so excited to see everything, go everywhere, that she hadn't been watching her feet, hadn't been mindful of the wet snow coating the ground. She had run ahead of her papa and Silhouette, bouncing up the stairs of a huge, pretty building before her papa had sternly called for her to return to his side.

She had turned on her heel and made to run back down the huge stone steps, when the worn-down treads of her shoes had slipped on the snow and sent her toppling backwards at an odd angle.

She would still remember, decades after the fact, how the world had slowed down, how she had been too shocked to scream, yet had been clear-headed enough to see the expression on her papa's and Silhouette's picture's faces as she fell. She would still remember how, between one wild throb of her heart and the next, she had instinctively known, **known** on a primal level that transcended age or maturity-level, that she was going to die.

The thought, _I don't want to die,_ had been the only thing left in her head, the only sentence or concept that remained in her panic-blanked mind. She didn't want to die. She was scared to die, she was scared to fall, scared of the knowledge, the **knowing** that she was never going to get back up again even when she was still too young to truly understand what death was and what it meant.

It would take years, decades, before she ever relayed so much as a single detail to anyone about what had happened next.

* * *

 _Skull ran her finger delicately along the rim of her shot glass as she waited for Levi to think of something to say. It was the monthly Varia drinking game night, where Xanxus and his guardians would all lounge around their private living room and make up drinking games to amuse themselves and unwind from missions._

 _This time around, Fran, in a display of just how well Viper had been teaching him methods to glean more information/blackmail material on everyone and everything, had suggested a game in which they would take turns stating an opinion and anyone who disagreed with that opinion had to take a drink and then explain, in one to five sentences, why they disagreed._

 _So far, it had been going splendidly. Though Belphegor had to be reminded repeatedly that "the Froggy/Shark is stupid and his peasant opinions don't matter" was not a valid explanation. Also, Squalo had to be repeatedly reminded that trying to skewer another participant was against the rules of the game._

 _It had also become something of an unspoken competition between the members to see if they could come up with a statement that Xanxus would_ ** _not_** _disagree with just to take a drink._

 _Levi snapped his fingers, "I got it. Snapping necks in the best way to kill someone when you need to be quiet."_

 _Skull felt her heart skip a beat in memory and instantly took a drink from her shot glass. There was a long pause before she realized that she had been the only one to do so. Even Xanxus, grudgingly, hadn't drunk to that one. With a slow breath to calm her nerves, she said flatly, "It takes too long."_

 _Squalo wrinkled his nose, "Seriously? That's your reason? Neck breaking is an instant kill!"_

 _Skull poured herself another drink and swallowed it without really tasting it. She didn't need to do that according the rules of the game, but the extra shot of alcohol helped burn away the memories that were threatening to rise. When she lowered the glass again, she replied with a bitter, broken smile, "No it isn't. It takes too long to stop thinking."_

 _Xanxus inhaled sharply, if silently, and the others went eerily still. A moment later, Belphegor pasted on a cheap version of his usual grin and rattled off an opinion so outrageous it nearly started a fight again and the moment of stunned horror was lost. No one ever brought up that line of conversation again, nor did they ever question her on her words._

 _She did notice however, that they stopped breaking necks unless it was absolutely necessary._

* * *

She had fallen on the stone steps at an angle where the blunt but narrow edge of one hit her directly on the back of her neck and broke her spinal cord in an instant. There was no feeling of pain, no agony to match the terror inside her. Just sudden blackness as the motion knocked her eyelids shut and a terrifying disconnection as she became suddenly unable to feel her own body, became unable to **breathe**.

 _I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die, Papa-Sissy-save-me-I-don't-want-to-die!_ The thoughts had pounded through her head in time to the ever slower thud of her heartbeat. An eternity crept by in the paralyzed blackness with only her thoughts to keep her company. Her knowing that she was going to die, that she was already **dead** in all the ways that mattered because how did you fix a body that wasn't there anymore?

 _I-don't-want-to-die-I-don't-want-to-die-_ ** _I-want-to-live_** _!_ In that last thought, that last flicker of terror, of desire, of the **will** to keep living, something had happened. A warmth spread through the blackness and it went from the color of pitch to a rich purple that shocked her into attempting to open her eyes.

Her eyes had snapped open and sunlight had stabbed with such ferocity that she gasped with the pain and relief. A moment later and she was being patted all over by her crying papa while Silhouette's moving picture gaped at her from next to her father. Milena started to cry too and reached desperately for Silhouette and her papa, to be hugged and comforted about what had just happened-

Only to see purple fire dancing all along her hands and arms.

Milena had screamed in terror, screamed herself hoarse and struggled to escape her papa's frantic and confused grip because she was on fire and she needed to put it out somehow and she-was-on-fire-put-it-out! Then the fire was gone, without a whisper, or a puff of smoke as warning. It was just … gone.

But the warmth that had preceded it, that had pulled her back from death, stayed.

* * *

 _Milena blinked away wet tears of fear as she huddled in her papa's lap and stared up at the towering true form of her big sister Silhouette. They were back in her father's tent, with Silhouette pacing frantically and her papa refusing to let Milena go for even an instant. Nicholas's naturally velvet rumble finally broke the silence, "What happened to her?"_

 _Silhouette growled briefly, like the rev of a motorcycle engine, "She broke her neck."_

 _"_ _But she's still alive-"_

 _Silhouette rubbed her servos over her helm, a habit picked up from Nicholas over the years, and snarled, "I know what I saw, Nicholas! I scanned her the moment she hit the stones. She broke her neck and_ ** _severed her spinal cord_** _."_

 _Silence fell again for a very long moment and Nicholas hugged Milena tightly to his chest, as if to fend off the terror of Silhouette's words. The silence stayed for two minutes before Nicholas murmured, "Then how did she wake up? On the way back you said … you said something about a … fire?"_

 _Silhouette shook her helm, "Yes- no. Not a fire. A spark. Spark-fire._ ** _Soul-fire_** _. The kind of which I've only seen the greatest of the Cyber-Ninja Masters back on Cybertron use. Even then, the color was different from hers. You couldn't see it?"_

 _Nicholas shook his head, "No."_

 _A bit of Silhouette's back plating relaxed, "That's … good. Then that means there's a good chance no one else in the crowd saw it."_

 _Milena spoke up for the first time since Silhouette had calmed her screams over the mysterious fire, "What's soul-fire?"_

 _Silhouette stared at Milena for a long time, then knelt down before her and her papa, "It's a manifestation of your spark, Bright Spark." Silhouette saw Milena's confused look and simplified, "Do you remember the glowing blue star in my chest that I showed you once, Milena? My spark?" Milena nodded, "It would seem … that you have one too."_

 _Milena stared at Silhouette with wide eyes, "Me?"_

 _Silhouette nodded, "Yes. I … I don't know how, but you do, and it saved you." She glanced up at Nicholas and said to him, "It completely repaired her spinal cord and neck, there's only the faintest scarring. And it's still there, I can sense her with my energy scanners now. She feels … like a youngling spark. A_ ** _strong_** _youngling spark, much stronger than I would ever have imagined for her age."_

 _Milena interrupted whatever Nicholas had been about to say in return, "Does that mean I can do magic like you, Sissy? Does that mean I can turn into stuff too and lift really big things and make moving pictures too?"_

 _Silhouette hesitated, "Maybe. But you need to be_ ** _careful_** _Milena. Very, very careful." Silhouette sighed and spoke to Nicholas again, "I don't know much about using spark-fire, that was a secret only the most advanced of apprentices could be taught and I never finished my training. But I'll teach her what I know and how to control it as best I can. First lesson being," Silhouette shot Milena a very serious look, eyes brightening with the silent command to obey her next words, "you must never use your spark-fire without supervision again. If you do it wrong, or use too much, you can and_ ** _will_** _die again, Milena, and this time nothing will save you."_

 _The fear of dying, the terror of the blackness she had been trapped in, made Milena nod emphatically and promise to never use her spark-fire unless Sissy was there and said it was okay. Never._

 _She never wanted to go back into that blackness again._

 _A pity it would become as familiar to her as her own heartbeat over the next few decades._

* * *

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Year 8:**

It was sometime two years later that the same fire that had saved Milena's life, destroyed it as well.

Though, to be more realistic, it had been the men who could see her purple fire and wanted it for themselves that destroyed her life.

She had gotten careless. Two years of constantly training her spark-fire had made her both confident in it and had changed her body in ways that were either absolutely impossible to hide just impossible to hide for an energetic wander-lust stricken just-turned-eight-year-old.

As she had been instructed by Silhouette, she kept her spark-fire tightly leashed inside, never allowing it out of her body unless she was being supervised by Silhouette, and even then, it was a rare occurrence. The side-effects of internalizing it so much even as she trained it, however, were the causes of the changes that were so hard to hide. Because she could not let the fire outside, it leaked into every part of her body. Coated her bones and burned under her skin until it became part of her body as much as it was part of her soul.

Her eyes, once a deep chocolate brown like her father's, now glowed a rich purple that went from vaguely passable as a natural color to eerie orbs of glowing light depending on how riled her temper was.

Her body was changed too. Her balance, unless she was overly tired, which was beyond rare because of her spark, was the level of a professional acrobat. She could lift anything she set her mind too, from tent pegs to crates of equipment that normally took two of the circus men to carry. She was fast, not just in body, but in mind.

Before, when she had asked Silhouette to tell her what a word meant in the language of the country they were visiting, she often forgot it within minutes. Now, she do anything from say basic sentences to hold simple conversations in almost any European language, and even had a smattering of Mandarin Chinese in her word bank.

Her sense of smell was no longer her friend, either. It was so sharp and precise and overwhelming that she often stole her father's helmet in an effort to filter the smells of the circus unless he was busy performing.

Her eyesight was both a blessing and a migraine. Literally. She had spent most of the circus's time in France hiding in the tents and under various scraps of cloth in an effort to stave-off light-induced migraines until she had adjusted to the new depth of her vision.

Yet as much as she tried to keep it internal, sometimes … it just didn't want to. It wanted out, she wanted it out, so look at and admire. She loved to watch the purple flames curl gently along her fingers and run up her arms, warm yet never burning her. It had saved her from death, so whenever she actively pulled on it, either to make it external or to enhance some part of her body, she was washed with a feeling of safe and strong and alive.

But that feeling also made her wander. She couldn't stop herself. There were days when she needed to move, leave behind the crowd of the circus workers and performers who were her family and just … explore. She needed to feel her legs move to forget the feel of their absence, feel her lungs burn and her heart throb to override memories of when her lungs could not move and her heart had come so close to stopping forever.

The crowds and noise she once used to love now repulsed her. Made her feel like she was trapped in a living, writhing box of other living beings that pressed so close to her she felt she would suffocate.

It was one of those wanderlust days when she grew too careless. She had been helping out wherever she could in the circus, but then the strangers pouring in suddenly became too much for her, their laughter too loud, their presences too stifling. Milena had fled to the outskirts of the circus area to catch her breath and had, in her panicked effort to stave off memories of darkness and nothing and cold, instinctively pulled her fire to her hands in order to see it and relish in its warmth.

The sight of the two small flames pulsing in time to her heartbeat from where they rested on her palms was soothing and eased her breathing. She admired them, savored them for a minute or two before one of fortune-telling girls found her and herded her back to her father's tent, scolding her the entire time for wandering off again.

Neither Milena nor her escort had noticed the man watching them from the shadows of the trees, were unaware as he had hurried off to inform someone else of what he had just seen.

That night, when the late-night crowd was at its height and her father had already finished his stunt act with Silhouette, who was back in their tent resting, Milena's world had erupted in fire. Orange flames, the kind that burned and maimed, the kind normal people thought of when the word flame was spoken. It sprung up in the animal act tent, then another in the big-top tent, then yet another in the back where the extra supplies were kept.

It had spread hungrily, jumping across the grass and from tent to tent while people screamed and fled. The circus troupe had rushed back and forth, trying frantically to put out the fire. Nicholas had pulled Milena close, moving to run back to the tent where Silhouette was, to turn Milena over to her for safe keeping while Nicholas helped with the fire, when a figure stepped out of the smoke in front of them.

In all the chaos, smoke, and screaming, no one else noticed the man. No one else saw the moment he used a knife to slash through the throat of the inattentive Nicholas as the father had run past.

No one but Milena.

She had screamed, in terror and grief and rage as her father fell to the ground with a gurgle and stopped moving. The man had grabbed her roughly, moving to sling her over his shoulder and drag her off. Milena, her mind hazed with grief and horror, the sight of her unmoving father and memories of darkness and death in her eyes, clawed the man's back with another scream.

Purple fire had flared and danced over her fingers as they went straight through. Through the man's clothing, through his skin, deep into his shoulder with the crunch of bone and the smell of burning blood. The man had dropped her with an agonized scream, his other hand coming around to hit her roughly on the side of her head with the hilt of his dagger.

The blow would have knocked out, or possibly even killed, a normal child. But for Milena, it only dazed her, rendering her limp and dizzy as another man stepped out of the smoke, picked her up, and ran away alongside the first.

The smoke had burned her lungs, her head had throbbed, and tears had rolled from her eyes even as she struggled to regain control of her limbs. Just as the two men had cleared the smoke, her limbs became her own again and she **moved**.

What happened next was a mystery to her. She could dimly recall smoke and screaming, tears and multi-colored fire, but nothing concrete.

The last thing she recalled of that time before waking up in Silhouette's large metal hand, far away from the burning remains of the circus that had once been her home, was the dim outline of a figure with blazing red eyes and an intense, powerful feeling of _warmth-home-safe-_ ** _mine_** , the like of which she had never felt before.

She would spend years searching for a way to feel that last sensation again only to rediscover it in the most unlikely of places.

But that was later. Right then, all Milena had been able to do was curl up in Silhouette's hand and cry while her adoptive big sister and protector rubbed her back with a finger and murmured, "It's alright, Bright Spark. It will be alright someday. I'll keep you safe. No one will ever do this to us again. Never."

Milena dimly recalled begging to know **how** Silhouette would stop it from happening again, what her big sister could possibly do to keep it, keep **them** , away. She wasn't sure why she had asked amid her sobbing, surely she would have had larger concerns at the time, grief for instance, but she had.

Milena would always remember Silhouette's reply, the look in her ruby eyes as she said, "I will teach you, Bright Spark. I will teach you to keep people away by letting them think they are close. I will teach you to show no truth save what your audience wishes to see." Ruby eyes had glowed brighter with intensity, with something dark and viscously protective, "I will make you a mirror, behind which none can see."

She hadn't understood it at the time, but she had later. Much later, when she lived in a world of Flames of Sky, futures that never came to pass, and people who made it their business to see through even the heaviest of fog to learn the secrets that lay within.

When she had come to stand at the top of that world, unknown save to a chosen few who she had allowed past her shields. Shields made not of fog or stone or steel, but of reflections, expectations, and hidden glass.

Shields made from mirrors.

* * *

 **So ... (hides in box fort) how'd I do?**

 **And about Milena's enhancement problem, that was my way of explaining how "Skull" is the only known Cloud who's flames make her 'immortal'. Dying Will Flames are willpower and belief right? So, if she believes that her flames are a "Spark" like Silhouette's, it would react differently to her. A cybertronian's spark effects every part of their frame, even though it is contained in the spark chamber. Without a spark, the energon pump wouldn't work and no energon would flow through the frame. With that kind of expectation coloring Silhouette's teachings about Milena's "spark-fire", Milena has grown to assume it would flow and spread through her just like energon does through Silhouette. It responds to that belief and leads to her basically enhancing herself 24-7 until it becomes a natural, unconscious thing to her. Thus, why she survives hits nobody else can.**

 **Make sense?**


	2. Second Stanza: Femme Fatale & The Hitman

**So! Here I am, with an update mere days after the first one! ... I think KHR is slowly eating my soul. That or I'm on a rare creativity high, so enjoy it while it lasts. To be honest, I'm not 100% sure about this** **chapter. Mostly because Reborn before he was Reborn features in this chapter and I'm not sure how I did writing him. I'll be explaining a few things I didn't get a chance to in the Author's Notes, to read that if you get confused. Oh, and I have an important disclaimer thingy there too, so please remember to read at least that part.**

 **Review Response: Dear praxian-press, hi! Here we are in the next chapter! I hope it is interesting! Me too, Writer's Block is a horrible, horrible thing.**

 **Dear Tsukiyoko Natsume, hello! Cool, glad that it made sense. Yay! Hope you enjoy the update!**

 **Author's Note: So, first thing is that Silhouette and Skull hold a conversation early on in this chapter in Cybertronian. I figure that Skull would be able to pull that off using a combination of Mist and Cloud flames that I won't go into right now, but the point is, the Cybertronian is in italics and the random words that are not are ones I fell wouldn't translate into Cybertronian, thus they briefly dropped into another language such as Russian instead. Second thing is that even though she's been Femme Fatale for a long enough time to learn about Flames, you may notice that Skull still refers to them mostly as spark-fire, even if she differentiates it by calling it Cloud, Mist, etc. This is because she's so used to thinking about it in Cybertronian terms, sparks, spark-fire, etc, its a habit she doesn't really notice and doesn't bother to break. As for her having Mist flames as well as Cloud flames, please refer to wolfsrainrules one-shot Femme in the collection Flicker, as that is the story from which I originally adopted the idea of Femme Fatale.**

 **Now on to the important disclaimer that is not in the disclaimer: Wolfsrainrules and Bleach-ed Na-tsu have been wonderful enough to lend me some of their head canons about Flames, the ages of the Arcobaleno (minus Skull, I made up that one), etc. Therefor, if you are not absolutely sure you've seen it in the anime or manga before, assume it belongs to either one of them or me and don't copy it. If you aren't sure, you are free to ask, but yeah, just a heads-up. For a specific example, the concept of Synchronized Skies (doesn't show up yet but it will in a later chapter) belongs to both wolfsrainrules and Bleach-ed Na-tsu. Kapeesh? Cool. On that note, thank you wolfsrainrules and Bleach-ed Na-tsu for you permission and help!**

 **Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Transformers, any terms from their respective universes, or any references made in this story. The only things I own are my OCs, my adopted interpretation of Skull, and the plot.**

* * *

 **Second Stanza: In which the Femme Fatale Meets the World's Greatest Hitman**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Year: 1974. Season: Summer. Location: Italy. Age: 17.**

Rodrigo Pessolano's summer ball was an extravagant, gleaming, **boring** affair. People chatted, couples danced, and wine flowed while insipid gossip, political intrigue, and sordid love affairs all stifled the air with their sheer banality. The rich mingled with the rich, the young flirted with the young and the old paired up the young for the sake of money and prestige without the consent of their offspring. All in all, it was an averagely glorious affair exactly like all the previous ones had been.

At least until Rodrigo's body was found on the nearby balcony with a hair-stick through his heart when he had been talking to various guests just minutes before and everyone started to scream and flee in panic.

As Milena let the flow of the hysterical crowd, the one she had stirred to an exaggerated frenzy with a subtle application of spark-fire, sweep her out and past the guards who were attempting to stop and corral the mass of terrified humanity, she admitted privately to herself that this felt like an improvement.

Though if she didn't get out of the crowd soon, she might just lose her professionalism and rack up the death toll with her remaining hair stick and her high heels just to clear out some personal space. _No, bad Milena. No hurting the innocents just because of your instincts. It isn't their fault that their host was the Don of a minor Famiglia dabbling in the human trafficking circuit who ended up trying to sell a member of a powerful Famiglia by accident. Or that said powerful Famiglia put out a revenge hit on them. Or that you accepted it. Or that you made them panic to provide you an escape cover. So really, this your own fault._

The crowd finally carried her into the sprawling lawn outside the mansion and Milena detached herself from it with all the speed she could muster without resorting to throwing or dropkicking people.

Finally free, Milena darted into the hedge-maze that decorated the left side of the front lawn. Once she was out of sight behind the tall hedges, she kicked off her high heels, tucked them into her glitzy hand-bag, and sprinted in tights-clad feet to her preplanned exit point. The stone wall surrounding the estate was high, but it wasn't high enough to block her Cloud spark-flame enhanced jump. She sailed over the wall and hit the ground with a light thump in the narrow aperture between the mansion walls and the town house next to it.

Milena glanced around quickly to ensure that no one was around too see, closed her eyes, and **shifted**.

A moment later, the twenty-eight year old woman with long, curly red hair, dancing green eyes, and a rich emerald dress of the latest fashions had been replaced by a nondescript woman of indeterminate age with dark brown hair, grey eyes, and ordinary civilian clothes. Milena instinctively shivered at the feeling of her secondary spark-flame changing its flow to alter her appearance, but quickly shook off the sensation and set off for her next destination.

It was something she had developed during Silhouette's intensive training. Silhouette had emphasized flexibility in personality, appearance, and manner to the point where Milena's very spark had changed to accommodate the teachings.

Her spark-fire, or Dying Will Flames as she now knew they were called, was still primarily dark purple, Silhouette had stressed the need to always retain a core personality underneath the layers or else risk drowning in her own lies, but now there were wisps of indigo Mist spark-fire mingled in it, anchored to it. A physical manifestation of her desire, and ability, to hide behind other people's own preconceptions without sacrificing her core.

No one noticed her as she flitted down the shadowed streets, blending in with bar-goers and other denizens of the city's nightlife on her way to her hotel. She would have to wait until tomorrow to return and get her pay for the hit. The ports were mostly closed now, and the ferry wasn't scheduled until tomorrow morning anyway.

Which meant, if she was lucky, she'd be back with the circus in about five days. That would please Silhouette.

Milena paused as the hotel came into sight, assessing it for activity before she took a deep breath and slipped behind Mirror #12. Her footsteps went from sure and silent to unsteady and loud, her posture and gate sagging from a straight-backed, lethal state to a hunched, lurching thing and her gaze went from sharp to glazed.

The man manning the hotel desk barely spared her a glance as she wobbled by and staggered up the stairs. She was just another visitor to the city, going back to her hotel room after too much drinking. Even if she was a woman, she was still not really anything of note.

Certainly not a sober, professional assassin coming back from a successful hit.

She continued to hide behind Mirror #12 until she was safely in her room, with the door locked, all the rooms subtly swept for unwanted visitors, and the windows checked for forced entry. Once she had established that she was truly alone and her room was secure, for a civilian hotel, she dropped the mirror and flopped onto the bed.

She clicked her teeth lightly, flooding her throat muscles with spark-fire in a special way before she commanded in a language of clicks and whirrs, " _Open channel_ , _Bright Spark to Silhouette_."

There was a pause, a click, and Silhouette's familiar grindings and warbles flowed to her through the tiny com unit she had built to fit in Milena's ear, " _There you are, Bright Spark. How'd it go_?" Milena smiled thinly at the casual tone with which Silhouette spoke. She sounded more like she was asking how Milena's shopping trip went rather than how easily she had killed someone.

She had gotten involved in assassination work by accident really. It had been two years ago and Milena had been no stranger to killing people for defense or with "dying" herself by that time. However, while wandering around in the seedier parts of the city the new circus was visiting, she had stumbled across a bar with … unconventional wanted posters. She hadn't said anything about it at the time, but listening in revealed she had stumbled on an underworld bar in which she definitely did not belong. Not long after that, she had been accosted on her way home by one of the men from the wanted poster board.

He had made it very clear that he had wanted to sexually assault her and had generally fragged her off to the point where she accidentally killed him while simply trying to incapacitate him. She hadn't wanted to go to all the trouble of hiding the body or going to the police, because she trusted police about as much as she trusted a wild bull elephant, so she'd dragged the body back to the bar and asked where she needed to take it in order to get the reward.

The bartender had been impressed enough to walk her through the steps for claiming the bounty and … things had just spiraled from there somehow until she had been given a pass to the moving island Mafia Land by a particularly grateful Famiglia and she'd been faced with the choice of either joining the Hitman's Lodge or the Assassin's Guild. Because walking away from the underworld once one was in it was impossible. Plus, she'd somehow already developed too large of a reputation as a professional killer to join the Thieve's Corner or the Information Station where the information brokers worked.

Pity, she would have enjoyed stealing things for a living. There wouldn't have been nearly as many insipid parties and infiltration work involved. Plus, washing blood-stains out of her clothing was annoying, ability to hide it with Mist spark-fire or not.

" _It went well_. _Target is offline_ , _people panicked_ , _no one noticed me leave_. _How was the performance of the Great Skull De Mort_?"

Silhouette gave a brisk laugh, " _You doubt the Great and Immortal Skull_ -sama? _His act is the most popular and daring of all acts and people flock from all around_ _to bask in his amazing presence_!"

Milena laughed softly at Silhouette's sarcastic impression of the identity they had crafted for her. Skull De Mort, male, stuntman and showman extraordinaire with an ego as large as his skill was great. He was arguably the famous circus stuntman in all of Europe by now, with a growing reputation in Japan and even China. Never seen without his special stunt uniform, and with purple hair, vibrant purple eyes, and piercings that made an impression on all who saw him.

It was a hard identity to maintain sometimes, but worth it for the safety it brought and the opportunity it gave her to keep her father's memory alive by following at least a little bit in his footsteps.

Silhouette's voice dropped back to a normal pitch, " _Seriously though_ , _I will be glad when you return_. _It is tiring to be both the bike and the stuntmech_."

Milena sighed, " _I know_. _I'll be glad to be back too_. _Being away for so long is_ …" Her voice trailed off and she rubbed her chest absently. Sometime over the years, she had formed something that Silhouette called a spark-bond with her Cybertronian sister. It was some kind of eclectic mix between Guardian-Ward and Sibling, and it made spending prolonged periods away from Silhouette agitating. Sometimes even painful.

Silhouette purred softly over the com, trying to send soothing feelings over their stretched-thin bond, " _I know, Bright Spark_. _It is uncomfortable for me too_. _But it is necessary and it is also almost over_. _How soon will you be home_?"

Milena smiled again at the ceiling, " _Five days if everything goes well_."

" _I'll expect you in a_ week _or two then_."

Her smile turned into a pout, "Hey now. _My luck isn't that bad_."

Silhouette practically chirped, " _Oh really? What about that time in_ Iceland-"

" _It was just a little_ blizzard."

"- _Or that other time in_ America-"

" _No one saw me_! _The mech didn't deserve to reproduce anyway_."

"- _plus that time in_ China-"

" _Which was not my fault,_ ** _and_** _the_ Triad _gave me that huge sum of money as an apology for putting out that mistaken hit on me_. _None of those incidents were_ _my fault_!"

" _Bright Spark_."

"… _Yes_?"

" _The_ Sicily _Scandal_."

Milena glared at the ceiling for a very long time before she hissed between her teeth and muttered, " _I still say it was his fault_."

" _Bright Spark_ , sweetling, _he did not deserve to be convinced he was a cat in the middle of a very formal banquet for two_ hours. _In his protoform_. _Just for flirting with you_."

" _He scared off my target_."

" _You are a very pretty_ girl, _who was disguised as a very pretty femme_."

" _I had to wear a_ **dress** , _Silhouette_ , _a_ dress _that was essentially a tube with ruffles on it and_ _showed off way too much cleavage_ , _while walking around in High_. _Heels_. _Do you have any idea how hard it is to walk in a_ silk _tube with high heels and not only_ ** _not_** _fall on my face or rip the_ dress _but look attractive while I'm at it_?"

Milena almost could hear Silhouette rolling her optics, " _I have no idea_."

" _Then you have no right to lecture me_."

Silhouette sent a burst of static as a sigh and Milena coughed slightly. She was getting better at speaking in Cybertronian without sounding, according to Silhouette, like a youngling with a heavy lisp, but it put more strain on her vocal cords than she liked.

Silhouette picked up on the sound of the cough immediately and asked in concern, " _Do we need to stop_?"

Milena huffed unhappily, " _Probably_. _I need to recharge anyway_. _The next_ ferry _for_ Mafia Land _leaves early next cycle and I'm going to need patience for all the paperwork I'll have to deal with_."

" _That is a natural side effect of taking on seven jobs in the span of three_ **months** , _Bright Spark_."

Milena rolled over onto her side, " _Worth it_. _Now I won't have to worry about my quota for at least the rest of the year_. _Anyway_ , _I'll be back soon to take over as the stuntmech_. _There should be a_ ferry _docking in_ Spain _two_ days _after_ tomorrow _, so I should be able to catch the_ circus _right after you cross the French border_."

" _Uh-huh_." Silhouette's skepticism was both clear and, in Milena's opinion, rather uncalled for. It was not her fault that things tended to crop up during jobs or on the way back from them that required a detour or a delay. Really.

Gritting her teeth slightly, Milena growled, "Good night, _Silhouette_."

" _See you in two_ weeks, _Bright Spark_."

" _Frag off_."

The com channel closed and Milena's eyes drifted shut in exhaustion, falling asleep within minutes of ending the conversation with her big sister.

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Year: 1974. Season: Summer. Location: Mafia Land. Age: 17**

Mafia Land was being invaded. Again. As irritating as it was that the island being invaded was an occurrence that happened a lot more than Milena would have liked it too, to the point where it became mundane for the natives, that wasn't the point right now. The point was that the idiots who decided they were strong enough to forcibly take over the neutral grounds of **every other respectable Famiglia on the planet** had decided to blow up a few of the ferry boats on their way in to "prevent escape".

Including the one Milena had been planning on boarding to go to Spain. Which meant she was going to have to not only wait until the invasion was over, but also until they reached the next scheduled port that was reasonably close to the route the circus was taking.

Fraggit. Silhouette was never going to let her live this down.

Now thoroughly unhappy, as in Cloudy Unhappy, Milena did the only thing she could to both burn off her ire and hasten the resumption of Mafia Land's normal schedule. Namely, channel her enraged Cloud spark-fire into her vengeful Mist and use that to remove the ability to reproduce, or breathe, from some idiots who did not deserve those privileges.

Milena ghosted through the combat-rife streets, her form shifting and blending seamlessly with each new situation without her conscious guidance as she hunted down opponent after opponent and removed them.

She slipped underneath the guard of yet another idiot who thought that because she was a woman who didn't have a weapon as obvious as a gun or a sword she was an easy target and punctured his heart. He dropped to the ground with a gurgle and Milena ducked behind cover before anyone else could notice her in the chaos. _Honestly_ , her inner Mist complained, _people are so uncreative. Why did they_ ** _think_** _she wore coils of wire as bracelets and carried a box of toothpicks everywhere? Or a tiny letter opener shaped like a sword?_ Then again, they had no idea that she was a Cloud who could, say, propagate the force and momentum of a toothpick to the point it could puncture two inches of steel.

A fact she wanted to stay a secret, thank you very much, thus the reason she idly picked up a random pistol from the fingers of a dead invader and searched his pockets for the ammo. Finding a few bullets in his pockets, she studied one closely before tucking them in her pockets for later use.

If she absolutely had to, she could create new ones out of her Cloud spark-fire. But only if she had to.

She darted down another side alley, her form shifting from … whatever it had been before, back into her cover identity for picking up jobs on Mafia Land. Namely, Mirror #2. Long black hair in a braided bun, hooded brown eyes, features that could be either European or American or even English in origin and a tendency to speak in German if she spoke at all.

Mirror #2 was known by many aliases in the Mafia world. Some were names, some were epithets, none were confirmed or denied as her real name or title. She had gained quite a rising reputation for being an expert assassin while using Mirror #2. Mirror #2 was known to be a powerful, tricky Mist, a rumor she had helped fuel by randomly shifting appearances while in conversation with information brokers or the Assassin's Guild clerks.

Whenever she did public shifting to establish her reputation Mist, she made sure to layer the illusion externally, like was expected of a Mist rather than anchor it internally as was her automatic habit.

A man wielding a bardiche of all things, leading a group of five other men all armed with the same weapon, surrounded her the moment she rounded the corner. She idly cocked back the hammer of her pilfered revolver, the sound and sight of it hidden from their eyes under Mist spark-fire, and raised an eyebrow as she murmured in a low alto, "Kann ich Dir helfen?"

The men scoffed, one leered and murmured something about just how she could help his desires to the man beside him while the leader sneered, "Oh, **sure** , you can help us, bi-"

A gunshot, not hers, cracked the air and the leader dropped to the ground with a hole in his temple. The others whirled in the direction of the shot, bardiches rising defensively, their backs now to Milena.

Her Cloud instincts screamed to end the fight now, to spill their blood while they were unprepared, but her Mist side perked up in curiosity on who had come to her "rescue" and what they would do next. The "rescuer" in question was a sharply dressed man with black hair, rather … unique sideburns, and glittering black eyes. He smiled thinly at the bardiche-wielding men, "Now, now," he purred in italian, "that's no way to treat a lady."

His rich voice and chosen language made her twitch to shift behind Mirror #14 for safety, but she resisted for the moment. She had no desire to fight in high heels, illusionary or otherwise.

One of the men snarled a death threat, to which the stranger with the gun retorted with a much more cleverly worded one. Milena rolled her eyes as her Cloud side grew too impatient and her Mist side grew bored with the conversation. Her hidden double-action revolver went off five times in rapid succession, dropping each enemy with a single shot to the heart from behind.

The Italian had tensed fractionally when the shots went off, but then he relaxed and smiled beguilingly at her, "Well," he had switched over to german, probably having overheard her sarcastic question to the now-dead invaders, "Here I thought I had found a beautiful woman in need of assistance, but I see I was mistaken. You are quite capable with that revolver, Fräulein."

Milena opened the revolver cylinder, emptied it of the expended cartridges, and reached into her pocket for more. As she reloaded it with quick, efficient movements, she replied calmly, "Oh, I don't know, the sixth one would have been an annoyance. I only had five bullets left in the cylinder."

The Italian narrowed his eyes briefly and Milena waited expectantly to see what he would do. A twinkle of something like mischief and interest passed through his eyes and his voice dropped to a rich purr again, "Feel like partnering up? It would make the job faster and more … pleasant."

While his tone of voice coupled with italian words had made her reach instinctively for Mirror #14 earlier, this new tone and the guttural sound of the german language had her reflexively pull up Mirror #20. She dropped it a moment later, but by the minute widening of his eyes and the instant comprehension in his expression, she knew he had seen her hair flash to frosted blond braids and her eyes to periwinkle blue before she had shoved it down and reset to Mirror #2. She kept her face and stance relaxed, as if she had always intended to partially change her appearance.

His shoulders had grown fractionally tense with his realization, but his voice was actually warmer and more normal than before, "Ah, so you are the infamous Femme Fatale."

A low bark of laughter escaped Milena's lips, "Is that what they're calling me these days? Hmm, better than the last titles. I think I might actually like that one."

The man gave a slight bow at the waist as they moved on, falling into step with each other without thinking about it, "I'll be sure to pass along news of your preference, Lady Fatale."

Milena tipped her head in his direction lazily as she scanned for new targets. There were a lot less targets than when she had started, so perhaps the invasion was almost over, "My thanks. But your name would be…?"

The man bowed at the waist even as they walked, his weaponless hand doffing his black and yellow fedora as he flashed her a charming smile, "But of course. Call me Renato, Renato Sinclair."

Milena mentally sat up at that. Renato Sinclair was a very well known and feared Hitman, one of the best in his business, with an infamy even greater than her own. Hiding her wary interest, Milena warped the framework of Mirror #14 around Mirror #2 and murmured richly, "Ho? I suppose I should feel honored. Not many make your acquaintance and live, Master Sinclair."

His smile took on a devilish, smug air that spoke of how he enjoyed her words even as he retorted, "The same can be said about you, Lady Fatale. Few assassins have ever risen in fame and status so quickly, fewer still have survived such a quick rise to infamy."

Milena tilted her head a fraction to the side to acknowledge his words, "One cannot kill a target that cannot be found. You, however, do not hide behind the Mist, yet you thrive in your power and skill without falling."

Sinclair chuckled, "I am the best."

Milena flawlessly poked a hole in his ego, albeit a tiny one, "Of Hitmen, perhaps."

There was a pause in their conversation as they finally located another pocket of enemies and proceeded to demolish them. The fight was short and heavily one-sided, with more of Milena's focus on watching just how skilled Sinclair was and visa versa. She flowed from mirror to mirror as she danced among her targets, her Reflective Mirror having given her the opportunity to get close to them.

Sinclair's gun went off three times, once for each selected target, before he ducked behind cover to avoid the retaliation. The rain of bullets pinning Sinclair down quickly ceased as Milena slipped in among their ranks, her Reflective Mirror convincing them she was one of them until she had taken one man's knife out of its sheath and slammed it into the base of his skull. She performed two more such back-stabbings before they figured out they were being assaulted from behind.

A generic masculine figure and the uniform of the invading Famiglia instantly gave way to her favored combination of Mirror #2 and Mirror #3, allowing her to duck under the waving gun barrels and sweep a man's legs out from under him in a blink.

With their focus turned toward her, Sinclair instantly stepped out from cover and opened fire again, his pistol cracking out several snap shots that thinned the herd surrounding her. Confused, shouting, and now frightened, the group scattered, some turning to attack Sinclair, others remaining focused on Milena.

Milena used the bodies and momentum of her attackers against them as she twisted and danced around their blows, her stolen pistol occasionally letting off a shot to take down someone too far away from her legs to trip and her fists to crush the throat of.

One dropped his gun and lunged at her with a snarl. Rather than sidestep as would be expected, Milena dropped into a low crouch and snagged his ankles, forcing him to flow over her back and shoulders with a rush of air just as another man opened fire on her. The bullets meant for her buried into the unprepared back of her meat shield, who she promptly dropped in favor of shooting the idiot who had just killed one of his own.

The man hit the ground with a thud and Milena glanced around in the sudden silence. Her inner Cloud snarled faintly at the lack of a challenge while her Mist snorted over the stupidity that had killed most of them. Her eyes flicked to Sinclair as he reloaded his pistol and commented, "Well, that was disappointing. I swear these invasions get become less and less of a challenge every time they happen."

Milena walked over to his side, her hair sliding back to black rather than the bloody crimson it had unconsciously shifted too at using Mirror #3. She made a mental note to work harder on that. Intentional appearance shifts were useful, but shifting every time she used a Mirror with strong personal memories and connotations attached to it could turn into a fatal tell.

Her basic mirrors and supplemental mirrors didn't pose that risk, she had no real personal attachment to them aside from their usefulness. But Mirror #3 and other mirrors that Silhouette had trained her to build were both stronger and harder to subtly combine because of the memories that went into them. It had taken her months to effectively combine Mirror #2 with Mirror #3 without her Mist spark-fire going completely crazy with her appearance. _Oh well, more time spent with Silhouette and her crazy training methods._

Her face twitched briefly into a scowl at that thought and she resisted the urge to shoot one of the bodies. Instead, she replied to Sinclair's comment, "That's because the Famiglia's who had even a slight chance at taking over have already been wiped out."

Sinclair nodded in agreement and then sighed faintly through his nose, "Pity, as I **did** have somewhere to be today and the ferry schedule always gets messed up after an invasion."

Milena felt a flash of both sympathy and vindictive pleasure that she was not the only one inconvenienced, "Same."

Sinclair tilted his fedora slightly as, before he could say anything else, the alarm blared all over the island again, signaling the end of the invasion and that everyone could go back to their normal routines now. Well, could resume normal routines if the person hadn't been planning on using one of the now-demolished ferryboats.

Milena unloaded her stolen pistol and tucked it away in the pocket of her pants. It was a surprisingly good one, and she planned on keeping it in her locker on Mafia Land just in case she ever needed it for a job. Her remaining bullets went into her other pocket before she looked up and shot Sinclair an expectant look. She had thought he would wander off to find somewhere to wait out the cleanup now that the invasion was over, but she hadn't sensed his presence leave.

Sure enough, he was still standing there, watching her with his pitch black eyes and a thoughtful, cunning expression on his face. Milena raised an eyebrow as she wrapped Mirror #14 around Mirror #2 again, but kept the framework of Mirror #3 attached just in case he was planning to try something.

Sinclair's expression relaxed and he held out his arm in a gentlemanly fashion, "Since we both appear to be delayed in our normal travel plans, perhaps you would consent to spending a little more time in my company, Lady Fatale?" Her eyebrow crept a fraction higher in expectation and he added temptingly, "I know a very pleasant little coffee and pastry shop not far from here that would serve as a convenient place to wait out the cleanup operations."

"I don't drink coffee." She really, really didn't. Bad things happened when she drank coffee. Bad, crazy things that she could never remember afterward but had both Silhouette and the entire circus she worked with as Skull banning her from drinking caffeinated beverages Ever. Again.

Seeing as how there were still singe marks the shape of her footprints on the inside of the Big Top tent's ceiling, she never bothered to argue with the rule.

"They serve various kinds of tea as well. They also sell a very interesting lemonade blend over the summer." He gave her a smirk that made her knees slightly weak from behind her mirrors, not that he could see that.

Curiosity poked at her and she finally accepted his arm and shot him Mirror #14's most winning smile, "You're paying, Master Sinclair."

Sinclair looked vaguely insulted that she even had to point that out, "I am a gentleman, of course I'm paying."

Milena let a low, throaty chuckle roll from her mischievously upturned lips, the perfect picture of a Mist who had finally found someone entertaining. She didn't know it, but in that moment, she made Renato Sinclair feel just a tiny bit weak-kneed as well.

Though if either had had any idea just how much trouble they would drag each other into over the years, they probably would have been much more inclined to walk away or shoot each other than flirt in german for the next two hours in the small, Mafia Land coffee shop down the street.

* * *

 **So? How was that for the first meeting between the Femme Fatale and the World's Greatest Hitman?**


	3. Third Stanza: The Sky and The Cloud

**Hi all! Still not finished with AUW or AMOSC newest chapters, holiday are wonderful things, but they are also really time consuming. The only reason you guys are getting this new chapter is I had it finished about two weeks ago and finally found time to post it. Not Christmasy as all, but hopefully you'll enjoy it anyway!**

 **Review Response: Dear Tsukiyoko Natsume, greetings! You might have to wait a bit longer to see any collisions of Skull's Luck and Reborn's Chaos, these aren't exactly in a strict chronological order. Still, it's fun to imagine... Especially if poor Tsuna somehow got caught in the middle (sniggers).**

 **Dear praxian-press, hello there! I'm glad you've enjoyed it! I never really thought that the Flames determined personality, more like personality determined the flames and having active flames causes some traits to be exaggerated. So, if a person's personality changes enough, they can gain a different flame. We'll have to come back to Reborn's and Skull's interactions at a later date, for now, I hope you enjoy this new chapter!**

 **Dear wolfsrainrules, hi! That is going to blow his mind, isn't it? His Lackey turning out to be the dangerous assassin he's sorta-kinda befriended over the years.**

 **Dear** **peppymint, hey there! He'll find out eventually, but it probably won't be until sometime after the TYL arc. Possibly even after they are cured from being Cursed.**

 **Dear UzuSphere, greetings! Thank you for your follow and I hope you enjoy the next chapter!**

 **Author's Note: So ... there will be a few quick explanations of some things down at the bottom of the chapter just in case people get confused by parts of this. Though, hopefully, any confusion will be minimal. I'd put them up here, but that would risk spoilers, so ... yeah. One thing I will explain up here, is that Milena now refers to herself in her head as Skull, even when not talking about the cover personality of Skull De Mort. This is because she's spent thirty+ years being referred to by other people as Skull. The name has simply rubbed off on her. Anyway! On to the show and have a Merry Christmas!**

 **Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, Katekyo Hitman Reborn, or any references/terminology featured in this story. The only things I own are the plot, my OCs and my adopted version of Fem!Skull.**

* * *

 **Third Stanza: In Which The Sky Gains A Cloud**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Year: 2008. Season: Fall. Location: France. Age: Cursed.**

Xanxus had been five when he had first met a Cloud flame user. It had been a brief meeting, more of an accidental brushing of shoulders than a meeting in the grand scheme of things, but he still recalled the feel of the flames. He could still remember the thick murmur of free-strong-wild- **mine** that had briefly wrapped around him mere hours before his mother had discovered his flames and taken him to Timoteo.

Men had been after him, after him because no one would miss a slum child and they needed him for something, for money or for another purpose, Xanxus had never found out. The only thing he really remembered was that he had gotten cornered and had pulled on his flames to defend himself as best he could when the air had suddenly thickened with power and **rage**.

The men had been dead before Xanxus could so much as blink, and standing over them had been a woman with hair as black as night and eyes the color of earth. Purple fire, so like his yet not, had danced small lines up her arms and shoulders as she had surveyed the unmoving bodies for several moments before turning those hard brown eyes on him.

Xanxus hadn't been able to move, he had been too busy trying to think through the floating sensation all around him, like he was being covered in downy feathers and shielded by impenetrable walls. The purple flames had been so thick in the air that he had tasted them, tasted the freedom and strength and possessiveness and wild, unchainable spirit that made them.

When he had been able to think for himself again, he was been standing on the street outside his rundown home with his mother crouched in front of him, begging to see his fire. There had been no sign of the woman with purple fire and he had never gotten a chance to ask where she had disappeared to because he had been distracted by his mother's declaration that he would meet his father and then he had been adopted by Timoteo and had been swept away with learning to be a Vongola.

He never forgot the taste of the flames though. Xanxus had memorized them to the point where when it came to picking his Guardians, one of the biggest reasons he had never bonded with a Cloud was that not only were Clouds incredibly rare, but any Clouds he did meet were instinctively compared to the woman who had saved him and been found so utterly wanting they were Rejected within seconds.

To be honest, Xanxus had all but given up on ever finding a Cloud worthy of his standards. Worthy of joining his Pride.

Then he happened to walk down a random street on his way to the airport to go home after a horribly irritating and boring mission and nearly got run over by a motorcycle.

Varia reflexes had him leaping to one side just in time to avoid an actual collision, his mouth opening to viciously curse whoever was stupid enough to almost run him over. **Him** , Xanxus of the Varia, when his Sky flames jerked forward without his conscious consent and even though the bike had already disappeared around the street corner, Xanxus felt a strong, answering pull.

Xanxus would never, ever admit to standing there stupidly for a full three seconds with his mouth hanging slightly open and his flames singing _mine-mine-mine-Cloud-Cloud-mine_ under his skin before he managed to shake free of his daze and launch into action.

Ripping his cellphone free of his pocket, Xanxus hit the speed-dial and held it to his ear as he started running for the nearest Varia safe-house. It was only a few minutes away, but he hadn't planned on stopping there because he'd wanted to be back at headquarters with his Guardians as soon as possible. He hated when the Varia were stretched thin enough that he was forced to be completely separated from all of his Guardians, even if doing so would ultimately lighten the mission load and help prevent it from happening again for a while, so he had completed the mission as fast as possible with the intention of heading straight back to Italy to rejoin them.

But he was on the hunt now, his flames surging wildly through his veins despite the rapidly increasing distance between him and the Cloud and the safe-house would have vehicles. Fast vehicles. Fast enough to possibly catch up with that Cloud if only **someone would answer the d*** phone already**.

Finally, it picked up, " **Voi**! Boss, what do you nee-?"

Xanxus rattled off the country, city, and district he was currently in and snarled, "There's a motorcycle chase going on. Get someone on those f****** street cams and plot an interception course to the lead bike from my location **now**!"

Squalo didn't question further, he just switched phone lines and started relaying orders. After a handful of minutes that whittled away at his already tiny reserves of patience, Xanxus was tearing down side streets and back alleys, following Squalo's instructions on which streets to turn onto or off of in order to catch up with the Cloud.

His body hummed with adrenaline as he urged the bike to greater speeds, nearly tipping over from taking a sharp turn at such high speeds before shooting up a different street. Squalo's voice was focused and serious as he continued to relay instructions through the earbud connected to Xanxus's phone, "Almost there, Boss. Turn right at the next intersection and you should see them in three, two, one…"

Xanxus shot out onto the main street and was forced to bank hard to avoid colliding with one of the bikes pursuing the Cloud.

Just ahead, the motorcycle that had nearly run him over weaved back and forth on the road slightly to avoid the bullets that had been sent its way moments before Xanxus's arrival. It was an unknown make, something he had never seen before. A large, armored affair with a strange canopy of darkened glass stretching over the entirety of the seat and handlebars so as to completely encase and hide the rider within. From its size and the amount of metal it was built with, Xanxus would never have expected it capable of going as fast as it was, to the point of outpacing the upgraded kind of bike the Varia used.

His entire observation took less than two seconds before he turned his attention to the idiots chasing the Cloud. One hand left the handlebars to reach for a pistol even as he roared over the wind, "Squalo, who is this f****** trash?"

"Identification programs are finishing now … they're from the Bouchard, Boss." Xanxus growled faintly as the Bouchard riders decided that Xanxus's presence was no longer welcome in the high speed chase and fired a few warning shots to chase him off. Or at least, he thought they were warning shots. It could have been their aim was just that bad.

Squalo was continuing his rundown of information, "A minor French Family into some pretty nasty stuff. Human trafficking, drugs, that kind of s***. There are rumors-"

Xanxus snarled low in his throat as a bloodthirsty smile curled on his lips, "Don't f****** care." Swerving around another round of warning shots, Xanxus returned the favor, minus the warning part. Three of the seven Bouchard riders died in fiery explosions as Xanxus shot their gas tanks with flame bullets. The rear end of his bike wobbled slightly under the force of the explosions' aftershocks, but Xanxus stubbornly steadied it.

Two more of the riders were knocked out of the chase from the shrapnel of the exploding motorcycles and the remaining two were forced to swerve down different streets to avoid the same fate. Xanxus huffed, "Track the b*******."

"Right."

Turning his eyes firmly forward again, Xanxus followed the motorcycle of the mysterious Cloud who had caught his attention. Narrowing his eyes, Xanxus roared over the howling wind, "And Squalo-"

Squalo answered in the pause Xanxus had been forced to take to regain the air necessary to shout, "Already working on identifying that bike and its rider, Boss, but so far nothing in the d*** database. Highly probable that it's a f****** unknown." Internally Xanxus cursed, because how could a Cloud that strong be an unknown?

 _Guess I'll just have to find out personally._ Xanxus revved the engine, trying to coax more speed out of his bike. The motorcycle ahead of him wavered fractionally, as if the rider had been too busy looking over their shoulder and gotten distracted, then it smoothed out and did something he would have considered impossible. It picked up more speed. _What kind of engine does that thing even have?_

"Voi! You've got f****** incoming! The trash is getting back on the main road in five seconds, coming from both sides!" Xanxus didn't respond to Squalo's report, but he did unholster one of his pistols again and take aim in preparation. _Four, three, two, one, now!_ The two bikes shot back into view and Xanxus snapped off a shot just as they swerved to drive side by side behind him. The targeted motorcycle exploded, spinning to one side and taking out the second along with it.

 _Perfect._ Holstering his pistol, Xanxus focused on catching up to the Cloud ahead of him. Instead of slowing down now that the original pursuers had been taken out, the bike somehow sped up again. Squalo, still watching through the street cameras, sounded peeved as he blurted, "How the f*** is that s***** thing still gaining speed?"

Xanxus grit his teeth, his eyes were stinging from the wind and he was at a loss as to how to stop the bike without shooting the tires and thus marking himself as an enemy to the Cloud. Straightening up slightly in his seat, Xanxus roared, "Oi! Slow the f*** down!" As expected, the rider either didn't hear or just didn't listen. Instead, the motorcycle he was following screeched through a busy intersection, Xanxus barely avoided getting hit by a bus as he followed, and then down a side alley.

A new chase ensued between Xanxus and the mystery rider that lasted for several minutes, during which Xanxus learned something about the Cloud he was pursuing.

He or she not only had no survival instinct, but was, even by Varia standards, just plain crazy.

Though, according to Squalo's thunderous yells as Xanxus matched the mystery rider stunt for stunt, including the roof-hopping incident that happened halfway through, Xanxus was just as crazy.

Xanxus's bike groaned underneath him as they slammed onto the pavement again after hitting a speed bump at seventy miles-per-hour. It apparently wasn't meant to take the same kinds of structural abuse as the custom bike ahead of him. They screeched another turn, blew yet another intersection in which Xanxus yet again nearly got run over by bigger vehicles.

He hissed through wind-numbed lips as his flames snarled with increasing frustration. Either the rider had extraordinary luck when it came to intersections, or they were somehow timing it so that they crossed just as the light went green, leaving Xanxus to deal with the moving traffic that followed.

"Voi! Boss! If that bike keeps on the projected route, its gonna hit the highway in another minute!" Xanxus cursed, if the bike was faster than his when it still had to be slow enough to maneuver past the everyday city traffic, if it reached the highway, it would probably leave him in the dust.

The on-ramp came into sight and, frustrated beyond reason, Xanxus reached for one of his pistols. He was going to shoot out that tire and have a chat with that Cloud, bad impressions or not.

The moment his pistol left the holster however, something shot from the back of the motorcycle ahead of him and attached to his. He barely had time to register the tiny disk-like object when a sharp wave of electricity rolled over the motorcycle and the engine went dead.

Xanxus coasted on the now unresponsive bike, barely keeping it from crashing at sixty or more mph and cursing richly. The bike eventually lost too much momentum to remain stable and overbalanced. Xanxus rolled clear of it, still cursing, and propped himself on his elbows in preparation to get up. As he did so, he glared forward in the direction the other bike had been going, expecting to see it either gone or rapidly disappearing onto the highway.

The custom mystery bike sat perpendicular to his position almost fifty yards away, its black paint with rich violet flames glinting in the afternoon sunlight. Xanxus froze for a second, wondering why the rider had chosen to finally stop. For a long moment, nothing happened, an air of expectancy hovering in the space between them.

Cautiously climbing to his feet, Xanxus flared his Sky flames, reaching inquisitively for the pulsing, rolling Cloud flames he could sense from the other rider. Sky brushed against Cloud and there was a brief rush of strong-wild-free-untamed as the Cloud flames flared in response to the touch.

Xanxus immediately pulled back his flames, not **really** wanting to set off a Cloudy Rage no matter how frustrated and furious he personally was. The standoff lasted for another minute, with both parties examining how their flames pulled and called to the other with no conscious decision of the persons in question.

Then the mystery motorcycle's engine revved and it sped off down the highway without a word. Xanxus cursed breathlessly as frustration seethed through his veins. _Should've shot the tires while I had a chance, consequences be d*****._ Whirling, Xanxus stalked back to the defunct bike and kicked it to relieve some of his temper. Squalo had been eerily silent over the course of the standoff, but Xanxus knew he was still on the line, so he paused his muttered curses to growl, "Send a d*** car to f****** pick me up." Then he resumed exercising his database of creative words. Though whether he was cursing the defunct bike, the elusive Cloud, or himself, Xanxus wasn't entirely sure.

He arrived back in Italy two days before Mammon. Two days of fruitlessly searching the Varia and Vongola databases for a match on the custom motorcycle with no results. By the time Mammon had returned to the castle, Xanxus was almost ready to climb the walls and even more ready to tear the walls down because he had no idea why he was this agitated.

Sure, he had finally come in contact with an unknown, skilled, **powerful** Cloud who had been able to call to his own flames and visa versa without getting instantly Rejected, and yes, it was the instinct of every Sky to complete their Element set, but this? Xanxus was better than this. He shouldn't be so restless over a mere prospect that as likely as not wouldn't work out.

The Cloud could reject him, or he might end up rejecting the Cloud anyway. The Cloud **might** already belong to a Famiglia, though he highly doubted that because no Famiglia in their right mind, minus Little Trash, would keep the fact that they had a Cloud in their midst a secret. The status boost would just be too great to resist.

Which meant he'd stumbled on a Cloud that had somehow managed to remain unaffiliated with anybody. Which was perhaps the reason behind the chase Xanxus had interrupted. It wouldn't be the first time a mafia family was stupid enough to attempt to capture a Cloud against their will.

But that also meant that the Cloud would likely be beyond paranoid of capture attempts and forced Harmonizations. And he'd attempted to shoot out the tires of the bike, which pretty much guaranteed a negative association between his flame signature and the concept of being hunted. Great.

Curse his temper. It was going to be the death of him someday, just like Enrico had always said.

But no matter how many times Xanxus told himself to calm down and not get so worked up over the Cloud that had escaped, he couldn't. It got to the point where the Guardians present in the mansion began to feed off of his tension and fight over the littlest things.

By the time Mammon got back to the castle, the majority of the Varia, aka anyone not a member of his Element Set, had already evacuated to the nearby safe-houses to wait out the inevitable explosion.

It said something about their harmonization level that the tiny Mist went straight to his office rather than take her customary brief shower first. Five seconds in Varia HQ and she'd already picked up on the fact that Xanxus was going stir-crazy and he was dragging the others down with him.

"What happened?" Flat and to the point as usual, completely ignoring the sounds of Levi, Squalo, and Belphegor brawling in the living room to let off tension.

Xanxus pushed a picture and his credit card across the desk to Mammon without preamble, "Who owns that d*** bike, where can I find them, and how the h*** do you court a Cloud?"

Because there were certain procedures that needed to be followed when courting a possible Guardian, rules that changed from flame type to flame type and Xanxus barely had a working knowledge of Sky-to-Element courtship as it was, let alone on the rituals involved in attracting the most aloof of Elements.

Mammon stared at him from under her hood for several long moments, incredulity bouncing to him over their bond and Xanxus growled over the top of his wine glass. He knew very well why Mammon was staring. The only time he had really, truly courted an Element was Mammon herself. The others hadn't been near as much of a hassle.

Squalo had clicked the moment they were in the same room and had been perfectly content to follow a Vongola Sky. The only thing they'd done that could count as a courtship had been the brutal sparring match to which Squalo had challenged him soon after their first meeting. After Xanxus had defeated him, though not without bruises of his own, Squalo had harmonized without hesitation.

Levi had courted **Xanxus** rather than the other way around until he'd impressed the Inverted Sky enough for Xanxus to return the interest. The moment Xanxus had, harmonization had happened.

Lussuria had first come to Xanxus's attention in an incident involving Christmas tinsel, feathers, and several bottles of whiskey which forevermore would be a secret known only to the two of them … and probably Mammon because the Mist was insufferable like that. Either way, Lussuria, just like Squalo, had clicked near instantly with Xanxus and there had only been minimal courtship between them before Lussuria had harmonized.

Belphegor … Xanxus didn't really even know what had happened there. Not that he regretted it. The brat had simply shown up one day, demanding to join the Varia, and somewhere in between training the juvenile flame user to not get himself killed and trying to resist the urge to shoot the kid himself, they had harmonized. Xanxus wasn't even sure when, he'd just realized one day in the middle of a sparring match with the knife-happy brat that he could feel a budding bond with him and that was that.

But Mammon. Mammon had been **picky**. Mammon had insisted on the best, and only the best, of courtships. It had taken months, and a lot of money spent getting information on just what a Mist required in a courtship in the first place, to convince her that Xanxus was worthy of being her Sky.

Now he was asking Mammon to not only identify someone, but locate them, and inform him on procedures he wouldn't bother learning unless he really, really wanted to impress a Cloud specifically. He was even offering his credit card as a wordless sign that Mammon could charge as much as she wanted for the information. His Mist was not stupid, she could read the signs.

Finally Mammon looked down at the picture and studied it. A few seconds later, he detected a tensing in her shoulders and a thrum of surprise and disbelief over their bond. Xanxus clenched his jaw, "Well?"

"Are you sure you want to find this one?" Mammon's voice was flat as ever, but Xanxus thought he detected a hint of skepticism in it.

Xanxus's lips twitched with the urge to snarl, "My flames called to that Cloud without my conscious intent and the Cloud called back. **Pulled** back. So yes. I'm f****** sure."

His Mist stared at the picture for a minute longer before she swept his credit card under her cloak and replied, "Moue, I cannot be certain that the rider is the same, but that bike originally belonged to Skull De Mort."

Xanxus sat up sharply, "The Arcobaleno Cloud?"

"Yes." Mammon tapped the desk and conjured a world map with her flames, "If it is Skull, you will most likely find him here around this time of year. He has a safe-house and … training ground there and it is his favorite place of residence according to his movement patterns."

Xanxus memorized the location of the glowing spot Mammon had placed on the map before his Mist canceled the illusion and continued, "There is very little information on Cloud courtship. However, gifts that benefit the courted Cloud's territory have been shown to be moderately successful. These gifts can vary drastically depending on the nature of the Cloud's territory. If it is a location, it might be anything from money for building reparations to flower seeds to help improve the land itself. If the Cloud has claimed a person, item, or pet as territory, winning the favor of the person or giving gifts of a similar item or a care product for the pet is recommended. Winning the favor of a Cloud's chosen person is an essential step to earning the Cloud's loyalty, but if that person is approached too quickly, too often, or while unsupervised, it will incite a violent reaction from the Cloud instead. Open invitations to freely explore the prospective Sky's territory in order to judge its worth also appear to have a moderately high success rate."

Mammon tilted her head to one side and leveled a stern look from beneath her hood, "Whatever you choose to do, do not crowd, push, yell, or attempt to hurry a Cloud's decision in **any way**. Do not insult a Cloud, do not mock a Cloud, do not curse a Cloud. In short, do not do **anything** that could count as disrespect or a challenge to the Cloud's territory and freedom."

His Mist gave the picture a bland look from underneath her hood, "Not even Skull is immune to a Cloud's temper, for all that he is an ex-civilian and a coward in general. Skull has been burned by weak Skies in the past and pushy Skies are one of the two things I have ever seen that can cause him to actually **act** like a Cloud. At the very least, you would be permanently rejected as a candidate, but it is more likely that Skull would attempt to forcibly drive you off."

Xanxus mulled over that information for a few seconds, feeling a flicker of something, unease perhaps, twist his insides. Clouds were infamously hard to Call, let alone Harmonize with, and now he learned that the only Cloud to ever call him and be called in return was most likely an ex-civilian who was known for his incompetency and cowardice. On the other hand, Skull was the **strongest Cloud in the world** and for all of his supposed incompetency, he had remained both alive and unaffiliated from any Famiglia for many years. The failed chase flashed through his mind and Xanxus smirked to himself.

That had not been the driving of an incompetent.

Mammon had been waiting patiently to see if he required any more information before she returned his credit card. Xanxus propped his chin on his hand and asked, "What about Skull personally? What would I need to know?"

The Mist Arcobaleno hummed faintly in consideration, "Moue, Skull is … dual-sided. Arrogant in his abilities, but terrified of actual conflict. He is very open for a Cloud, his opinions are always written on his face for all to read, which is why he wears that helmet of his all the time. Skull is easily bullied on basic matters, his food, training, doing things for others, etcetera. However, if his bike or stunt equipment is threatened, he is as possessive as any other Cloud. While not impossible … I find it difficult to believe that anyone could steal the motorcycle in this picture from Skull, no matter his incompetency compared to the rest of us. Though I do not see how Skull could ride it now, considering that it was his stunt bike from Before. He has been using his Octopus or a miniature bike as transport for the past few decades."

Xanxus's credit card reemerged from Mammon's cloak, "If you are truly interested in … courting Skull, speak softly, don't curse if at all possible, praise honestly if you can, and show interest in his … work. Skull is very partial to flattery and acknowledgement. Gifts of motor oil or other mechanically oriented items will go a long way to win his favor, but the process will still take a very long time."

To anyone else, Mammon would have sounded as apathetic and neutral to the idea of Xanxus courting Skull as a potential Guardian as she was of the sun rising in the east. But Xanxus had known her for years and was Harmonized with her on top of that, he could feel how skeptical and dismissive she was over the concept.

Xanxus snatched his credit card and the picture off of the desk, already making plans to travel to Skull's favored safe-house with a gift of some kind. He needed to make a good impression to get back on his potential Cloud's good side. If Skull did turn out to be his Cloud, Mammon would just have to adjust.

Xanxus's flames had finally been called to by a Cloud and had called back in return rather than reject it, he wasn't going to pass up this chance just because of someone else's opinions.

 **.**

* * *

 **.**

 **Year: 2008. Season: Fall. Location: United States. Age: Cursed.**

" _Someone's at the gate …_ _it's the Varia leader_." Skull grunted in acknowledgement of Silhouette's warning, more preoccupied with the random car engine she was fixing than the possible threat of the head of the Varia thundering in. She'd worry in a few more seconds, after she had finished tightening that stubborn bolt.

A buzz and a click sounded through the huge, two story garage as the intercom on the front gate turned on. After a brief pause, A rough voice with an underlying edge of permanent anger growled, "Oi, anybody home in there?"

Skull paused. She had expected the man to just break the gate down and have done with it, Varia only ever visited non-Vongola on violent business after all. But he was using the intercom? A low growl sounded over the device in question before, "Look, just open the d*** gate-." The sentence was caught off by another low growl that sounded vaguely like he was reminding himself to use manners before he tried again, "This is Xanxus of the Varia … requesting … permission to enter the grounds."

That lack of swearing and the clearly painful use of actual manners had Skull getting up from her work desk and sauntering over to a wall with monitors all over it. Since Skull spent most of her time in her garage with Silhouette anyway, the thing was actually bigger and more lived in than the house to which it was attached and she had long ago transferred her security station to the second floor of the garage.

Silhouette shifted slightly from where she was leaning against the wall and cleaning her weapons while Skull pulled up the video feed of the gate. She commanded the camera to shift and look down so that she could stare directly at the Varia Sky. Her heart pounded slightly at remembered feelings of flames pulling at hers and she frowned.

Xanxus looked … twitchy. Impatient. She could see his free hand drift briefly to one of his pistols as he eyed the lock on her front gate before he snarled to himself and forced his hand away again. She glanced down at the control panel to ensure that the intercom was still only one-way before resuming her study of Xanxus and asking Silhouette, " _What do you think he wants_?"

Silhouette tilted her helm as she accessed the security feed on her HUD. A moment later, she shrugged, " _No idea_. _Perhaps it relates to that Flame Call you felt a few days ago_. _He doesn't have a Cloud of his own yet, does he_? _Perhaps he is here to see if you'll join him_."

Skull scowled at the thought, just as wary of the notion as Silhouette sounded. Skies had tried to chain her down before, tried to call her in only to smother her and nearly take her freedom away. She refused to let another one do that. She refused to let another person try to put their manacles on her under the guise of 'harmonization'.

Then again, none of those Skies had Called to her so strongly she'd nearly lost her concentration during the escape, nor had they ever managed to track her down to her own home before.

"Is anyone even f****** home? Because I'll be pretty p***** off if I'm standing out here talking to myself." She watched as Xanxus's mouth snapped shut a moment later and he looked frustrated. He clearly had no natural brain-to-mouth filter and was struggling to consciously use one.

That made her laugh for some reason. Just a snigger, but it was an impressive feat considering how suspicious and hostile she felt toward most Skies that either weren't little Yuni or didn't already have a Cloud. Ignoring Silhouette's warning look and pulse over their bond, Skull switched the intercom feed to a two-way one and asked, "What do you want with the Great Skull-sama? And how did you find my home?"

Red eyes glanced up at the camera on the gate, a tiny bit of tension leaking out of his shoulders now that he knew he wasn't talking to himself, "I'm just here to … talk. I had an … encounter with a custom bike a few days ago. I asked Mammon where I could find it's owner and got directed here." There was an awkward pause as Skull waited for him to elaborate, even though she knew what this was about, and he obviously tried to figure out how to speak without swearing. Finally, with a muttered italian curse, Xanxus shifted his left arm so as to hold the box he'd been carrying up to the camera view, "Look, I bring a gift and swear on Varia Quality that I'm not here to shoot s*** up. Can I come in now?"

Silhouette and Skull exchanged another long glance before Silhouette made a "do what you will" motion and Skull keyed in the command to unlock the gate, "I'm in the garage."

Xanxus strode through the gates without so much as a thank you and Skull triggered them to close and lock the moment he was through. With that done, she turned off the intercom, stepped back from the control board, and commanded in Cybertronian, " _Housing Unit Shift_ : _Minibot_. _Additional Shift_ : _Guest_."

With minute clicks and whirs, the garage began to immediately alter. Plating shifted, certain items disappeared into the floor only to be replaced identical ones of much smaller sizes. She knew without checking that the house was experiencing the same internal transformation, though absolutely no sign of it would show up on the outside.

The entire thing was Silhouette's doing. As a former engineer and a member of a mechanical, super-advanced race, the femme had had whatever Cybertronian technology she could replicate with Earth resources built into the framework of every safe-house and bolt-hole Skull owned.

In addition to the high-tech security measures that would have baffled even Verde, training areas and garages that could accommodate Silhouette's bipedal form, and holographic projectors through which she could transmit a hard-light hologram anywhere in the house, was the ability to internally shift the building into different modes.

There was Skull's favored mode, where everything was adult sized and she could wander around or work or train in her old adult form using her Mist spark-fire. There was a defensive mode where any and all intruders would find themselves up against not only Skull and Silhouette but also technology at least a hundred years more advanced than anything they'd ever seen, such as plasma cannons and very angry cleaning-drones with mini-guns.

Then there was Minibot mode, where various items and pieces of furniture were swapped out with identical pieces that were sized appropriately for her cursed form. It was that house mode she used whenever she was too tired to use her Mist spark-fire to artificially restore her adult form. The Additional Shift: Guest, made it so that there were still a few pieces of furniture around to fit a grown adult and that all of her too-advanced-to-go-unnoticed tech would be locked down and out of sight.

The Additional Shift had been made just in case she got a rare visit from either one of the other Arcobaleno, such as Reborn come to "train" her, or if she had to entertain a stranger such as her current situation.

By the time Xanxus had stalked up the long, winding driveway leading up to the massive garage and only slightly less massive house, the transformation was complete and Skull had dropped Mirror: Adult in favor of her true form and Mirror #1's personality.

Skull shot Silhouette a long, stern look to which her sister rolled her optics, "Fine. But if he tries anything or you zone out again, I have full rights to blast him." With that, Silhouette subspaced the last of her weapons and transformed into her Alt Mode.

Skull placed her mini-sized helmet on her head, wandered over to the front of the garage, and slapped the button to open the door, allowing the huge thing to roll slowly upwards just as Xanxus got there. Xanxus paused on the threshold, red eyes snapping instantly to her helmet visor as the feeling of their flames calling to each other grew even more intense. From behind her helmet and Mirror #1, Skull swallowed hard. Xanxus's Sky flames felt nothing like the previous Skies who had tried to cage her. He felt like power and rage, protection and home and endless expanses in which to wander all rolled into one.

For a split second, the sheer temptation of it, the want she felt deep in her core, made her mouth go dry and all other thoughts flee from her head. Then Silhouette poked her sternly over their bond and Skull snapped out of her stupor. Crossing her arms over her chest, she demanded, "Well, are you going to come in?" Xanxus blinked once, then twice, seeming to have to drag himself out of the same stupor into which Skull had fallen before he carefully stepped inside the garage and put the box down on the floor in front of her.

Curiosity begged her to open the box, but she refrained for the moment, tilting her helmet to indicate she was staring at him instead. Xanxus was looking around the two-floor garage, his gaze landing on Silhouette's Alt Mode at once. He grunted and crossed his arms, "So, that really was you the other day."

Skull scowled internally but outwardly puffed out her chest, "Of course it was! As if anyone else could drive as supremely awesome as me!"

Xanxus inched further in as Skull trotted over to Silhouette's bike form and leaned against it. His eyes left Silhouette's form to scan the rest of the garage as he commented curtly, "Your driving is f****** insane." Skull scoffed from within the privacy of her helmet, but did not outwardly reply. Finally, Xanxus added dryly, "That EMP you used broke that bike, you know. Utterly destroyed the control box and the solid-state ignition system."

Skull layered her voice with a childish whine rather than the anger she truly felt as she recalled just why she had fired off an EMP round, "Well, **you** were about to shoot out the tires of **my** bike!"

Xanxus hissed faintly for a second before he gritted out, "Yeah … sorry … about that. But you wouldn't stop and let me talk to you, so I lost my d*** temper. Won't happen again."

Skull snapped off an acid-laced question before she could think better of it, a bit of her true self and her suspicion leaking past Mirror #1's usual whininess, "Which? Losing your temper or trying to shoot my bike?"

Xanxus huffed, "Shooting at your bike." Skull noted the lack of excuse over his anger issues and reluctantly added a mental point in his favor, at least he hadn't tried to lie to her about not losing his temper around her. Everyone had heard of the infamous Flames of Wrath and the temperament of their current wielder.

Xanxus awkwardly waved toward the box he had left just inside the garage threshold, "Got you that as an … apology."

Skull tilted her head to one side and asked suspiciously, "Are you trying to bribe me for something?"

Xanxus scowled, "No."

Mirror #1's voice went up a few octaves and cringed away from him, "Then are you here to assassinate me? I haven't done anything to the Vongola!"

Xanxus bristled, "Oi! I already swore that I wasn't here to shoot s*** up!"

"But you never said anything about bombs in boxes!"

Xanxus exploded, his Sky flames swelling like ruffled feathers around him as he roared, "Like h*** I would use a s***** trick like that! If I wanted to personally kill someone I'd d*** well shoot him and have done with it! I wouldn't go around leaving f****** bombs in cardboard boxes to do my work for me!"

The swell of Sky flames had Skull's mouth snapping shut with a strangled noise, the sheer power and depth of his flames stunning both her and her Mirror #1 into silence. _Primus,_ she thought distantly as she struggled to keep her own spark-fire from flaring in response, _his flames are stronger than any of those other Skies_ ** _combined_** _. And Reborn's student is stronger than him?_

Silhouette hissed over the private comlink in Skull's helmet, the sound being automatically blocked from leaking outside, "What's happening? Is he trying to force a bond? I'll shoot the little glitch-"

Skull hastily silenced the speakers in her helmet so she could answer Silhouette without being overheard, "No! No, don't … don't shoot."

Xanxus's flames suddenly curled back into his core, his red eyes widening as he seemed to realize what he'd done. A part of Skull, the part of her that was jaded to the world after so long, especially toward Skies who thought they could chain her to them, wanted to run Xanxus off for flaring his flames. Wanted to shoot him herself, or at least let Silhouette drive him off.

But … she didn't. She couldn't. Something about his flames had caught her attention from that moment she nearly ran him over by accident in France and no matter how much she distrusted anyone other than Silhouette … there was a niggling instinct in her mind that whispered _"give him a chance"_.

She pushed those thoughts aside and told herself she couldn't shoot him or let Silhouette run him off as that would not only attract the wrath of the Varia, but would reveal Silhouette's true nature. Skull clicked her helmet speakers back on, but couldn't find anything to say.

An uncomfortable silence filled the air between them before Skull took the initiative and, pulling Mirror #1 more tightly around herself, walked over to the box and cautiously pried it open. She blinked. Then blinked again. She then slowly lifted the contents of the box out so that she could confirm it really was what she thought it was.

It was motorcycle polish and a rotary buffer.

But not just any polish or rotary buffer. They were absolute quality, top-of-the-line, ridiculously **expensive** motorcycle polish and rotary buffer. The kind that millionaires and billionaires with automobile collecting hobbies bought to care for their rare, one-of-kind vehicles that never saw the outside of their hyper-sanitized garages. These were, aside from Silhouette's jealously guarded tin of cybertronian polish and the cybertronian-sized buffer Skull had hand-built her sister for Christmas, the holy grail of polishes and buffers.

Silhouette must have scanned it discreetly because she murmured, "…Well. I'll be a cyber-cat. **Those** , are pretty impressive apology gifts."

Mirror #1 gushed and cooed over the perfection of the items and how they were "worthy of the Great Skull-sama's precious motorcycle", more than a little bit of sincerity leaking through from Skull herself. Xanxus positively preened at the praise his gifts received, looking oddly relieved at her reaction for a touchy, rage-filled leader of the greatest assassination squad in the entire Mafia World.

Skull darted back and forth across the garage, putting the new items in their proper places and gushing for a few more minutes before tapering off and resuming a mostly normal conversation.

Well, as normal as an awkward-as-pit conversation could get. Xanxus spent too much time futilely trying to lower his volume and censor his language and Skull was too suspicious of the rough Sky because of the lack of bullets flying at her person for them to really relax and **talk**. Plus, their close proximity and the way their flames kept poking and testing the other without their conscious consent was too distracting to make the conversation anything less than painfully flat and cautious.

Eventually, Xanxus gruffly announced that he was leaving and strode for the garage exit, his coat billowing out dramatically behind him. Skull got the oddest impression that he wanted her to say something, that he had been hoping for a signal of some kind.

Perhaps it was that feeling, perhaps it was her spark-fire/flames acting up because of the retreating presence of the Sky, perhaps it was just because she had gone a touch insane with only Silhouette for company, true company, the kind that spoke plainly but did not belittle her every other sentence for so many years that she said something.

Instead of keeping her silence, or calling out a generic goodbye, or even letting Mirror #1 yell out something about Xanxus being free to bask in the "Great Skull-sama's" presence again, she dropped her mirror for a split second and called, "Next time you drop by, if you could bring an ignition magneto system with you, I'd appreciate it. My last one got blown up."

Xanxus actually froze in mid-step, his head whipping around to look over his shoulder at her. Disturbingly, Skull could not decipher the expression on his face despite her decades of experience. He stared down at her for several seconds before he snorted and resumed walking, "F****** whatever, Chibi."

Skull rolled the garage door shut once he was through and hurried to her security monitors to watch him leave. When Xanxus reached the outside of the gate, he abruptly turned and slammed his fist on the intercom button. The system had just enough time to connect to the garage speakers before Xanxus barked out gruffly, "Oi, if you ever feel like teaching my s***** trash how to properly ride a motorcycle like you do and not smash their own d*** skulls in, swing by the Varia Mansion." He paused and then added, "I'll pay you in that f****** expensive polish and whatever motorcycle parts you need if you ever show up."

With that declaration, he stalked away to his car and drove off.

Skull blinked once, blinked twice, then looked over at the now-bipedal Silhouette. Silhouette shrugged helplessly, "Don't look at me, I've been living on this planet for well over eighty years and humans still baffle me. Especially human mechs."

Skull glanced over at the shelves were she had stashed the polish and buffer, a hum of contemplation escaping her throat, _visit the Varia and teach them to stunt drive, huh? Weird._ Surprisingly, the thought did not repulse her as much as it should have, though she still decided not to do it. Just in case this was all a trap of some kind.

Over the next few months, Xanxus dropped in at random intervals, usually when she was in, but sometimes when she was off on a mission, in which case he just growled into the intercom a few times and left. Each time he came, he brought something with him. Polish, a motorcycle decal, whatever random part or tool Skull offhandedly mentioned wanting or needing. After accepting his latest gift, which Skull still couldn't decide if it was some kind of bribery or not, Xanxus would hang around in the garage for an hour or two and just … listen unless he was required to give an answer.

Skull began to notice that he always left the moment she began to act uncomfortable in his presence, that while he had given up filtering his profanity he never called her "trash" or "scum" like he did ninety-nine percent of the human population, and that he actually payed attention when she began to cautiously talk about motorcycles and vehicle maintenance. He even helped her once or twice with the larger engines she enjoyed working on despite the tiny size of her cursed body.

He never brought up his invitation to visit the Varia mansion again, but Skull sensed it was a standing offer even now.

Each time he visited, their flames instinctively pushed and nudged at one another, feeling each other out with tentative touches and pokes. It was strange and beyond flummoxing. She had no clue as to what he could want and everything about his character pointed against underhanded trickery and long-term manipulation. Xanxus preferred to just shoot things and have done unless absolutely necessary.

Still, despite her lingering suspicions, his visits and company were … nice. A change of pace to the monotony into which her life as Skull De Mort had fallen. She even took to inviting him inside the house for lunch or dinner sometimes and stocked up on rare kinds of alcohol just in case he dropped by.

Without realizing it, Skull began to make room in her life for the cranky yet non-pushy Sky. Without consciously acknowledging it, she grew to look forward to his visits, and slowly, piece by unconscious piece, she began to use her Mirrors around him less and less. Inch by hard-won inch, Xanxus came closer to her than anyone else save Silhouette. Came closer to being allowed full access behind her Mirrors. If given another few months to a year, there was good chance she might even let that happen and introduce him to Cybertronian sister.

But that was later, much later what with the severely slow pace of things. Still, Skull was content with the way things were.

Until one day she was working a short-term contract for a very powerful, very rich American Mafia family and Xanxus was dragged in by two roughed up grunts, the Varia Sky injured, unconscious, and disarmed. Skull went rigid, instinctively wrapping Mist spark-fire around herself in a manner that made the others in the room forget she was there.

Oblivious to her presence, the exhausted-looking grunts dropped the unconscious, and how had they managed that? Varia Sky on the carpet at their boss's feet, "Here he is, Boss. Everything happened just as we were promised, but it was still one h*** of a fight to bring him down. Showed up at the address right on time and his car blew up just as he got out. Threw him across the pavement and stunned him long enough for our snipers to hit him with a few of the specialized tranquilizers. B****** took out at least half of our Storm Company and twenty of Esmerelda's Mist users before Richard's Rain Battalion and the sniper squad managed to finally knock him out. Most of the men that survived are already in the infirmary."

The boss smiled broadly, immediately ordering the grunts to take him to the prepared room and keep him heavily drugged until they had use for him. Skull barely heard him, she was staring from behind her visor at the pool of blood slowly creeping out from under Xanxus and across the carpet.

The boss wandered over with a sneer and kicked Xanxus as the grunts hauled him up. The unconscious Sky wheezed faintly in pain at the action and more blood dripped to the floor.

Something inside Skull snapped. Her muscles went taut beneath her skin even as her normally revolving, seething spark-fire stilled. Her heartbeat sped up until it pounded against her ribs like a trapped, vicious hummingbird and the surge of her blood roared in her ears. Time crawled meekly to a stop beneath her gaze as her eyesight sharpened, cleared of previously unnoticed imperfections until the world was like a picture frozen behind a window of fragile, crystalline glass.

 _Inhale._

 _Exhale._

She **Raged**.

The two men holding Xanxus died mid-word. The two toothpicks that whipped through their left eyes and out the backs of their skulls moving so fast it took a few seconds for their lips to stop moving with phantom signals of halted communication. They began to fall, their grips going slack on Xanxus's arms.

The other bodyguards in the room died from more tiny wooden projectiles driving through their eyes, comlink-bearing ears, or foreheads with the force of bullets all before the first two men had finished hitting the ground. The boss faltered and gaped in horrified confusion at the sudden way his guards all dropped to the ground without so much as a single cry of pain.

Skull's Mist barrier vanished as he whirled to identify the direction of attack. His eyes settled on her, hands reaching for his gun as he opened his mouth to call for backup. Skull took a single step forward, the whiny, cowardly, silly personality of Mirror #1 shattering into pieces as Mirrors #2 and #3 forced their way forward. They merged seamlessly with the bloodied framework of Mirror #51 as the form of a shrunken, toddler Arcobaleno gave way to a languid frame, jet black hair, and hooded brown eyes.

One hand whipped out to touch the boss's shoulder, Mist spark-fire shooting up from the point of contact to bind his mouth shut with a tight gag. The other hand swatted the man's gun aside, breaking his fingers on the way as she sent it spinning to the far wall. His eyes were wide with pain, terror, and confusion. A low, rolling hiss escaped her lips, " _Fragger_ ," leaning close to him, she whispered gutturally in English, "never touch what is **mine**."

She slammed her fist against his head with just enough force to knock him unconscious and then pushed him so that when he fell he would not land on Xanxus. Her flames rippled faintly at the move, at her rage, before they went still again, predators awaiting the signal to start the hunt.

Crouching down, she checked for the location and severity of Xanxus's wounds. Determining him safe to move but in need of medical attention soon, she carefully slung him over one shoulder. She would have carried him in a more comfortable manner, but she would need at least one free hand. Her eyes glinted dangerously at the feel of Xanxus blood seeping into her clothes as she strode for the exit to the conference room.

Silhouette prodded frantically at their bond, trying to uncover the source of Skull's rage. Skull only growled through her com for Silhouette to come around to the front entrance and prepare to transport an injured patient back to the house.

Members of the mafia family, either just passing by or drawn by the suffocating feel of her flared yet utterly still flames, were killed the moment they came into sight. Toothpicks, flicks of her Cloud-extended piercing chain, swift strikes of her Mist flames that convinced people they'd been shot through the head or stabbed through the throat, nothing survived the methodical clearing of her path.

Eventually, the enemy figured out they were being attacked from the inside and regrouped in the front mansion foyer in an attempt to pin her down with sheer numbers and firepower. Her eyes blazed a brilliant yet eerie purple as she gently set Xanxus down behind the cover of a stairway corner and turned on her ear com again. She couldn't risk leaving him there in case someone approached from behind, but she couldn't fight off that many by herself while under fire **and** carrying Xanxus.

But then again, she didn't have too. She wasn't alone. Skull snapped her teeth and growled in Cybertronian over the opened channel, not wanting to risk sending that much rage over her bond with Silhouette, " _I can't move_. _Take them out_."

A moment later and the roar of an engine cut through the rattle of gunfire. The double-doors slammed down as Silhouette barreled inside in a whirl of transformation and sweeping energon katanas. Horrified screams cut off mid-sound and almost as soon as the cacophony had started, it was over again. Silhouette glanced around with blazing ruby optics, Skull's rage effecting her despite Skull's best efforts to shield her side of the bond.

Silhouette subspaced her humming blue katana as she straightened up as much as she could in the mansion foyer, " _Clear_. _Where's the patient_?"

Skull carried still unresponsive Xanxus around the corner and placed him in Silhouette's gently curled palms, " _Take him to the house_ , _patch him up as well as you can_. _I'll be back in a few_ hours."

Silhouette rumbled faintly at the sight of the limp Xanxus with his torn and bloodstained clothing. She may have been even more suspicious of the Inverted Sky than Skull, he reminded her too strongly of Megatron at times, but she knew Skull enjoyed his company and appreciated the gruff courtesy the man extended to her. Pulling him close to her chest and rumbling her engine in a subconscious, soothing manner, she asked, " _Where are you going_ , _Bright Spark_?"

Skull bared her teeth and pulsed her spark-fire out in a thin wave, using it to sense where all of the remaining members of the household were hiding, " _They've seen me as Femme_ , _Silhouette_. _They have hurt what is_ ** _mine_**." Her eyes shone so brightly with her rage and spark-fire that her pupils were no longer visible beneath the glow, a primal noise escaping her chest that made the air tremble with power, " _More importantly_ , _I have a traitor_ _to find_." _And when I do, he will_ ** _suffer_** _,_ hovered unspoken yet acknowledged between them.

Silhouette nodded and acquiesced without protest. She had no problem with the insinuation of what Skull was going to do. Silhouette had trained the girl all her life, it was Silhouette's training that prompted this response in the first place. Silhouette had lived through a several-billion year war. Had fought it from the shadows and the filth of Special Ops. She was a Cyber-Ninja, and had been a citizen of lower **Kaon** before all of that.

"Leave no loose ends, tolerate no betrayal of trust" was a lesson that had been ingrained into her from her very youngling-hood, and it was a lesson she in turn had hammered into Skull. Silhouette turned and slipped through the broken doorway with a partially conscious but unmoving Xanxus cradled in her servos while Skull whirled and made her way back to the conference room.

She had a slagging rat-spawn of a boss to interrogate, a house worth of scum to deal with, and a traitor to uncover.

* * *

Silhouette transformed gently around Xanxus, making sure to tuck him neatly on the seat and inside the special glass cover that would shield him from both bullets and view. His heart rate spiked further even though he remained immobile and Silhouette murmured softly, "It would appear that you have won my charge's favor, Xanxus of the Varia, and that we have much to discuss when you are bandaged and more fully conscious."

Red eyes flickered open and his body twitched spasmodically with the urge to get up, fighting the astounding amount of specialized sedative and Rain flames Silhouette's scanners picked up in his bloodstream. Silhouette carefully filtered a mild sleeping gas through the glass dome over her seat, just enough to re-trigger the sedatives already in his bloodstream, and forced Xanxus back into the unconsciousness he had been slowly coming out of for several minutes before.

Once he was truly unconscious once again, Silhouette picked up speed, whipping down the long roads toward the nearest safe-house to treat his injuries and finally get some answers to questions that had been bothering her for some time. Skull wasn't the only one with plans of interrogation on her mind, though Silhouette would be sure not to actually hurt the man draped across her seat. Her charge was very fond of him after all.

* * *

When Skull finally left the enemy mansion, it was only her subtle use of Mist spark-fire that had kept everyone and their grandmother from seeing and smelling all of the blood on her clothes during the journey back to her safe-house. She ditched the motorcycle she had stolen from the now deceased mafia family several miles away from her home in case it was bugged with a tracker and ran the rest of the way back at Cloud-enhanced speeds.

Her rage had faded, sated by the destruction she had wrought earlier and now there was only exhaustion in its wake. Stumbling through the door, Skull dropped her last illusion, revealing her true, toddler-like form as she staggered over to the couch and clambered onto it with a grunt.

A moment later, Silhouette's hard-light hologram appeared and picked her up. Skull remained limp and unresponsive as Silhouette carefully helped the exhausted Cloud shower and change into clean clothes. She then forced some food down Skull's throat and made to put her in bed. Skull finally stirred as they passed the guest wing, her spark-fire flickering to the surface at the brushing contact with slumbering, limp Sky flames.

Purple eyes blinked fully open and she rasped, "How is he…?"

Silhouette nodded and detoured momentarily into the guest room Skull had prepared for Xanxus on a whim several weeks ago, "He has some very unpleasant burns, bullet-caused flesh wounds in his right leg and left shoulder that I had to close, several cuts and gashes that I had to stitch up, and a **lot** of bruising. But, he is alive and he will be fine. He just needs to take it easy and rest for a while. Considering the vid feeds I pulled up after treating him, I'm honestly shocked he came out with as few injuries he did. He fought a little over two battalions of Flame users on his own, while injured and pumped with tranquilizers."

Skull hummed as she overlooked the slumbering Xanxus from her position in Silhouette's holographic arms, "He's pretty deeply unconscious."

Silhouette shrugged lightly and resumed carrying Skull to her bed, "His flames are still burning out the tranquilizers and Rain flames they forced into his body. I'm mildly surprised he managed to stay awake and coherent for the duration of our … chat while I patched him up. He'll be asleep until at least late tomorrow morning, possibly into the afternoon."

Skull sat up in alarm at that, "Chat?"

Silhouette chuckled as she deposited Skull on her bed and forced the Cloud Arcobaleno to lie down, "Don't worry, I didn't harm him in any way. We just talked. I explained a few things to him, he explained a few things to me."

Despite the exhaustion dragging her down into sleep, Skull pushed it away long enough to ask, "And?"

Silhouette stroked Skull's short, spiky hair softly, "He still reminds me of Megatron. However … I now believe he is what Megatron could have been had he chosen a different path." Skull's eyes had drifted shut against her will before Silhouette had finished her second sentence. The last thing she heard before sleep claimed her was Silhouette's reverent whisper of, "You have chosen a good leader, Bright Spark. A strong Champion, who will defend you in any ring."

Then blackness claimed Skull and she drifted away into a sleep too deep for dreams.

Xanxus was still unconscious when Skull got up very late the next morning, so she took it upon herself to finish what she had started and shamelessly decided to use his phone, which she had retrieved along with his signature guns while "clearing out" the enemy mansion yesterday. After breaking the encryption that was only laughable to a person trained all her life by a hyper-advanced cybernetic alien refugee, Skull scrolled through the Varia contact list and randomly picked the one listed as "S***** Shark".

It got out maybe half a ring before it was answered and a bellow shook the living room windows, " **Voooiiii!** Where the h*** have you been? Your car's tracker went offline and then your f****** phone tracker went offline too! Little Trash and the Castle has been going f****** crazy trying to locate your sorry a**! You better not be injured you crazy-"

Skull interrupted him, the low, silken voice of Mirror #3 cutting through the man's roars like a knife, "Ventura Mirto."

Dead silence fell for several seconds before she detected a muffled click and the man hissed, "Who the f*** are you and where is Xanxus?"

Skull turned her head to watch as Xanxus stumbled down the stairs groggily, his eyes still slightly unfocused from the tranquilizers and Rain flames his system had been attacked with. _Huh, Storm flames usually burn off tranquilizers faster than any of the others, but despite his flame strength he's still not completely awake._ She scowled darkly, _they had to have pumped him full of enough of that scrap to kill any other Flame user a dozen times over just to knock him out. Fraggers. But he's up now, did the "Voi" wake him?_

Pushing that line of thought away for the moment, she answered "He's with me. His car was blown up during an large, coordinated ambush yesterday because of information given to an enemy famiglia by Ventura Mirto. He's a petty officer in your Storm Squad."

She heard the slither of steal, enraged sniggering, and low growls and idly concluded that the first man had put the call on speaker. Xanxus paused at the bottom of the stairs, his eyes sharpening slightly at the sound of her voice and the sight of his phone against her ear. A deep voice, not the man who had first answered the phone, snarled, "What are your plans with the Boss, you d*** b****?"

Skull rolled her eyes, "I plan to return him once he can move on his own without **ripping open his stitches like fragging idiot**." The last part was yelled pointedly at the limping Sky just before Silhouette's hologram arrived and forcibly carried the snarling man to the nearest armchair. Silhouette slapped the back of Xanxus's head before she disappeared back into the kitchen. Skull visually checked Xanxus for any signs of ripped stitches or major discomfort before tuning back in to the bellowed death threats coming from the other side of the line. _He'd better not break my windows with that volume of his. By the AllSpark, does he have the lungs of an elephant or something?_

"Look," she interrupted curtly, "I don't care what you think of me or what you plan to do to me in the, highly doubtful, event that you catch up with me. Take care of the leak in your ranks, or **I will do it for you** and I will make sure that you regret your incompetency while I'm at it."

Yet another voice joined the conversation and Skull recognized it as Mammon's, "Moue, why do you care? Are you associated with the Vongola, the Varia, or one of the allied Famiglias?"

Xanxus was watching her intently now, the haze gone from his eyes as he listened in on the conversation, it was certainly loud enough on the other end for him to hear both sides. Skull curled her lip, "No to all three. But, I am associated with one of Xanxus's contacts and, more importantly, I **hate** traitors. It does not matter who is being betrayed or to whom the traitor goes, anyone who pulls a stunt like that, for **money** rather than any kind of personal conviction, should be destroyed. Painfully. Besides," here she hesitated and glanced at Xanxus before shaking off her unease and snarling deeply into the phone, "The fragger not only hurt your leader, he threatened something that is **mine**. For that if for no other reason, I will hunt him down and make him **scream** if you do not do so first."

Xanxus had an unreadable expression on his face and the silence on the other end of the phone was stifling. Finally, the first person to answer the phone growled, "Voi. Who the h*** are you, anyway?"

Skull's lips twitched into a sneer, "Why don't you ask your Mist? That one is supposed to know everything, right?"

Xanxus leaned his chin on his hand and rubbed his temple with a look of exasperation as the shouting on the other line became loud enough to shake some of Skull's furniture. Rolling her eyes again, Skull snapped, "Ventura Mirto, either deal with him or I will do it for you in a very public and embarrassing way." Without further preamble, she ended the call and turned off the phone to prevent anyone in the Varia from calling her back.

She shot Xanxus a long look, her voice going back to its natural pitch, "How the frag are you not deaf by now?"

Xanxus gave a faint scoff, "Selective hearing and a liberal use of bullets."

Silence fell over them several seconds before Skull shifted uncomfortably and made to stand up, "Silhouette's making breakfast in the kitchen, it should be ready soon. I'm getting glass of water, do you want anything-?"

"So, I'm one of yours." The question was really a statement brought Skull's rambles up short.

Swallowing hard around the sudden lump in her throat, she struggled to answer past the feelings of _too soon, not ready, too-soon-too-soon-he's-_ ** _seen-me_** _,_ "Yes. You are."

Xanxus smothered a pained grunt as he forced himself out of the armchair and limped over to the couch Skull was standing on. He dropped into a crouch in front of her, the height the couch granted her and his position on the floor causing them to be eye-to-eye. His expression was the most serious she had ever seen him before, his red eyes clear of anything except sincerity as his Sky flames coiled and pulsed through the room.

Xanxus held out a hand, not attempting to touch, just letting it hang in the air patiently as he asked with uncharacteristic quiet, "Would you agree to being one of mine as well?"

Skull struggled not to gasp and yank up her mirrors, when had they fallen? at the question. Her muscles went taut, her lungs froze, her heart crawled up her throat. Xanxus didn't speak further, didn't push. For once, he was utterly still and calm as he waited for her to choose. His Sky flames swirled around them, whispering of _free-free-safe-home-mine?_ The flames called to her, pulled at her in the same maddening way they'd done since that moment in France.

She knew what he was asking, he was asking for a bond, for Harmony. He wanted her to be his Cloud. The part of her that hated Skies, was jaded to their chains and false promises, snarled defensively. _Don't trust,_ it hissed, _don't trust. He'll ensnare you with chains and expectations and orders. He'll_ ** _bind_** _you. Run away while you have the chance!_

But another part of her pointed out something different, _He waits. He leaves when you feel too crowded, he respects your privacy, he_ ** _listens_** _when you speak. How long has it been since someone other than your sister listened, truly listened, and did not mock you for being a "ex-civilian" and a "weakling"? He offered you access to his territory, he brings you things that benefit you and yours. He is one of_ ** _yours_** _already. Would it be so horrible to be his in return?_

Without taking her eyes away from Xanxus, she reached out to Silhouette over their bond, mentally begging for an opinion to help her decide. Silhouette just nudged her away with the thought of, _"Stop worrying about the past and_ ** _listen_** _, Milena. What does your_ ** _spark_** _say?"_

Skull pulled reluctantly away from Silhouette and briefly closed her eyes. She reached for her spark-fire, her flames, and listened, really listened to what they had to say about Xanxus for the first time rather than pushing the whispers away as a weakness and a possible trap. _Sky-wide-free-fierce-home-want-pack-mine-mine-_ ** _My-Sky_** _._

Her eyes snapped back open as her spark-fire suddenly flared and spiked with desire and trust and possessiveness. Xanxus was still kneeling in front of the couch despite how uncomfortable it had to be for his injuries, his hand extended and his expression patient. Slowly pulling off one of the riding gloves she always wore, Skull reached out and gently placed her hand in his. Their flames trembled at the skin contact but held back, waiting for one last sign-

She locked gazes with him and breathed reverently, "My Sky." Xanxus inhaled sharply and his Sky flames lunged.

Sky, Cloud, and Mist flared and coiled around each other without reservation, mingling and pulling and singing until balance, understanding, **Harmony** was reached. The bond snapped into place, bright and new and strong. Something inside her that had been silent for years, decades, sang and Skull gasped.

She knew this. She knew this feeling. She **remembered** this from that night, that horrible night where her world had shattered and made way for a new one of mirrors and lies. She had searched for this feeling for **years** before giving up on ever finding it and now here it was. Here it had been for **months** , right in front of her and she'd refused to see it because of old burns and fears.

 _Warmth-home-safe-_ ** _mine_** _._

Something wet slid slowly down one cheek as Skull gasped like someone who had been drowning and now finally had access to air, pulling desperately on the new bond, stroking it, relishing in it as a conviction settled deep in her bones, into the very core of her spark-fire.

She was home.

* * *

Xanxus felt the last piece, his missing Element, finally click into place and something deep inside him relaxed. It was like a muscle he had never known existed had been taut and knotting, driving him to distraction without his conscious knowledge until it finally came undone and his instincts **purred**.

Skull was his now. His and no one else's forevermore. Skull's flames tugged desperately on the bond as a tear slid slowly down the Arcobaleno's cheek, hungry for the feeling of Home and Belonging at last. Xanxus obliged immediately, flaring his Sky flames until heat waves rippled through the room. His flames wrapped around his new Guardian without hesitation, supplying the feeling of Home and Harmony in as great a strength as Skull desired even as he resisted the urge to laugh with glee.

The World's Strongest Cloud. Not just that, but a powerful Mist as well, one who showed signs of having freely mixed his primary Cloud with his secondary Mist in order to boost it to otherwise unattainable levels. A Misty Cloud, arguably the rarest of all flame combinations, and he was Xanxus's now.

Mammon was going to have a heart attack when she found out about this.

Xanxus shifted his weight a bit and grunted faintly at the sudden surge of pain the motion triggered from his burns and other injuries. Skull instantly bristled with worry and two seconds later, Xanxus found himself being held bridal style in Skull's arms and carried back to the armchair, "Hey!"

"Shush," Skull scolded, "you're injured. So, it's either I carry you or Ōdako does. Your choice."

Xanxus glanced across the room at the tiny octopus happily swimming around its wall-sized aquarium and grunted, "I'm not letting some slimy-a** octopus carry me around in its d*** tentacles no matter how well you've trained it."

Skull snorted good-naturedly, then paused in mid-step when Xanxus began to poke the chest he was being held against curiously. Skull asked slowly, "…What are you doing?"

Xanxus moved to roughly prodding one of Skull's shoulders, trying to figure out why it felt perfectly real when he logically knew it couldn't be, "Trying to figure out how the h*** you went from being a chibi who needs a stepladder to climb onto the d*** couch to an adult big enough to pick me up against my will."

Skull shrugged, "Oh, that? Mist spark-fire. I anchor it to my Cloud spark-fire and use the propagation property of my primary to boost the construction property of my secondary. The end result is a solid form that feels real and comes in whatever size, shape, and age I want."

Xanxus opened his mouth to ask how in the world she came up with the idea, and why she called flames spark-fire, when Silhouette's voice drawled from the kitchen doorway, "I thought that in human culture it was the man who carried the woman. Not the other way around."

Skull jolted and nearly dropped Xanxus, causing him to curse at the jarring of his injuries, "Silhouette! Don't tell him that!"

The human … construct that the transforming robot alien used raised an eyebrow, "Why not? I'm not having him wander in on my charge while you're changing or something because he thinks you're 'one of the guys'. Breakfast is ready by the way."

The new bond thrummed with agitated embarrassment and Xanxus shifted grouchily as Skull carried him into the kitchen. To distract from his wounded dignity and lack of guns with which to shoot the cause of his indignation, he asked, "Wait, she's serious?"

Skull set him down gently on a chair at the kitchen table and then flopped onto the one next to him, still in an adult version of his, her? real form, "Yeah, I'm a girl. I was going to tell you myself later, but Silhouette's a spoilsport."

That … explained some things about Skull's character actually. Xanxus blinked, processed the new information, then changed the subject because he sensed it made his new Cloud uncomfortable, "How the h*** does a giant alien robot know how to make f****** waffles and scrambled eggs?"

Silhouette put a plate down in front of each of them and drawled sarcastically, "Since she's been taking care of a human child for years. Oh, and call me a 'robot' again and I'll smash all of the wine bottles Skull's collected for you in front of your eyes. Call me Silhouette, femme, Autobot, or even cybernetic organism if you have to, but don't call me a robot again."

She leveled a stern look that Xanxus promptly ignored, even though he grudgingly filed the list of acceptable terms away for later. It wouldn't due to anger his new Cloud by insulting part of her Territory right off the bat, "Whatever, femme." Silhouette gave a look of approval before moving to retrieve drinks.

The morning, despite his injuries, his new bond, and the fact he was holding an argument/conversation with a "cybernetic organism" from space, was surprisingly normal. Sure, it didn't have Squalo waving his sword around, Belphegor trying to stab everybody, Levi thundering, and Lussuria laughing while Mammon complained about the expense of replacing the dining table **again** , but it still held an offbeat, chaotic air that made him feel oddly at home.

The wet, tiny octopus engaging him in a tug-of-war over the saltshaker and the transforming tea kettle with claustrophobia issues was kinda weird though, even by his standards.

Once breakfast was finished, the war over the saltshaker was won, the tea kettle convinced to go back into its cupboard by Skull, and pain medication forced down his throat by an agitated Cloud, Xanxus turned his attention away from basking in his new bond to the panic and rage flickering across from his other ones. He held out his hand from where he'd been forcibly carried by Skull and deposited onto a plushy chair in the huge garage, "Oi, give me back my d*** phone so I can call the trash and tell them to calm the f*** down."

Skull paused in disemboweling a truck engine, still using Mist flames to create an adult version of her true self, long enough to obligingly toss Xanxus his phone. He turned it on and scowled when it booted up to the main menu rather than the locked encryption screen he'd been expecting, "You f****** hacked my phone."

"I needed to make a call. Which you overheard. Who is S***** Shark anyway?"

Temporarily diverted from his original task, Xanxus began painstakingly rebuilding the encryption on his phone, "Squalo Superbi, my Rain and Second in Command. He keeps the trash from getting into s*** … when he isn't d*** well getting into it himself and- How the h*** did you break into Varia level encryption this thoroughly? The old codes are f****** shattered! Even that b****** Giannini couldn't break these codes!"

Skull snorted and waved a wrench lazily in his direction before resuming her tinkering, " **Hello** , raised by hyper-advanced alien, remember? I've been cracking **cybertronian** A-ranked encryption codes since I was 17."

Xanxus paused in mid-motion, then asked, "Think you could program the Varia's electronics with that level of encryption?"

Skull blinked, then glanced down at Silhouette, who was in her robot form cleaning two giant katanas. Silhouette looked up, and Xanxus felt the a foreign bond pulse between his Cloud and the Cybertronian for a few seconds before Skull turned back to Xanxus and said, "Probably not A-ranked, Earth technology generally can't handle that level of coding, but I could probably swing a C-rank or a B-rank. The encryption on your phone is roughly the equivalent of an F-rank, by the way."

Xanxus processed the implications of that and swore. The Varia had some of the best, if not the best, encryption and security measures known to man and Skull said it was at least **six levels** below what she could hack and three levels below what she could encrypt into Earth technology?

 _Well d***._

Xanxus pointed his phone at Skull menacingly, "We'll discuss that later, Chibi." Skull nodded amiably, still too busy tinkering and drinking in the sensation of Harmony to really care about anything. Xanxus shook his head, set his phone to speaker, turned the volume way down, and selected Mammon's number.

A ring and a half passed before the phone clicked and Mammon's voice drifted coldly through, "This had better be the Boss this time."

"Trash," Xanxus acknowledged curtly, "what the h*** this I hear about all of you running around HQ like f****** chickens with your d*** heads cut off?"

"Moue, Boss, you are well then?" His bond with his Mist, stretched by distance though it was, hummed with relief.

Xanxus grunted, "Like the traitorous scum and his employer could f****** take me down."

He heard a loud clatter-thump from the other side of the line and felt Mammon's exasperation as she put her phone on speaker for the other Guardians without prompting, "The woman who called on your phone earlier mentioned stitches."

Xanxus shot the eavesdropping Skull a nasty look to which she responded with a smirk and a wink. Great, his Cloud was a cheeky s*** on top of everything else. That would be fun to introduce to the others, "Nothing serious, just a d*** scratch or two." Silhouette made a grinding noise he decided to interpret as an incredulous snort and resisted the urge to shoot her with his newly returned guns. For one, it probably wouldn't work, for another, his bond with Skull was only a few hours old and he didn't want to risk misunderstandings over his disciplinary measures just yet.

He made a mental note to get revenge on the femme later while Squalo thundered through the phone, " **Voi**! Where are h*** you? What's your situation? Is that d*** b**** causing you trouble? I'll f****** slice her to pieces!"

Skull had slapped a hand over her mouth about halfway through and was clearly holding in sniggers. A pulse of amusement rippled across to him so strongly that he had to bite back a laugh in return. Squalo cut off mid-word as he finally sensed the new bond with his Sky. Even though Elements didn't necessarily share bonds with each other, they could always sense when another bond was active or when it was used to communicate with the Sky they shared.

Mammon was the first to break the silence, curiosity leaking audibly into her voice, "The Cloud you were courting is there? And you've harmonized already?" She had warned him that Clouds could take years to properly court depending on how strong their flames were, so he supposed it was a valid question.

Xanxus grunted in affirmation and his Guardians positively exploded with questions and demands. They apparently hadn't figured out yet why he'd been regularly disappearing to America. Idiot trash.

Skull lost the war with her laughter as the sounds of the Varia thundered over the phone and nearly shook the garage, her whoops of mirth fitting in rather well with the usual sounds of screaming, brawling, and chaos Xanxus was used to as his Guardians fought over who got to hold Mammon's phone and demand answers.

Xanxus grinned smugly to himself as he basked in the racket. He had a feeling that things at the Varia Headquarters were about to get even more interesting than before.

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* * *

 **So! Explanations! First off, because I just know my head is at risk over this one, Xanxus's near-capture. I can just hear people demanding to know why I would dare have something like that happens to him. Well, in response to the possible-impending questions, yes, I know Xanxus is a bad-aft, yes he is Varia Quality, and yes he's scary as pit, but in my defense he is still human. And as a human, he can still be (** **occasionally) caught off guard, particularly since it was partially an inside job. Furthermore, I have hinted very strongly in the story that he did not go down without a very good fight and that the bad guys were cheating like crazy. They had a little over two battalions of flame users up against him, plus snipers on the rooftops with specially designed, flame-resistant sedative. Considering that a battalion can have anywhere from 400 to 1000 men, I felt that the odds were sufficiently evened up.**

 **As for Xanxus moving around so soon after his injuries ... this is anime. Specifically, this is the anime that features a special bullet that when shot at somebody, does not kill them but instead makes them lose all clothing save their boxers and run off to do some task or other with flaming foreheads. I think enhanced durability and pain resistance is the least of the improbable things in this universe.**

 **Point number three, Xanxus was partially conscious through a good portion of Skull's Rage/rescue, he was just too drugged and injured to really do anything about it, so he pretended he was still out cold in an effort to get more information. Silhouette could tell he wasn't because she can read his vitals, brain-wave activity, and 'spark-rate' with her scanners. Xanxus only tried to get up and move because he was being carried and spoken to by a giant robot that could turn into a motorcycle and somehow knew he was semi-conscious.**

 **The talk between Xanxus and Silhouette was essentially just Silhouette explaining what she was and where she came from before demanding he tell her what he wanted with Skull. In return, Xanxus told Silhouette what he wanted from Skull and why it had to be Skull and not some other Cloud.**

 **Finally, just in case anyone is wondering, the woman Cloud that saved Xanxus as a kid was Skull in disguise, she took him back to his mother and left with the intention of arranging protection for the juvenile Sky, but by the time she got back, Xanxus's mother had already taken him to the Vongola and Skull figured he was as safe there as anywhere she, a recently Cursed Arcobaleno, could provide. Neither of them are particularly aware of this fact yet, as it was a very long time ago for Skull and Xanxus hasn't quite put the pieces together yet as to her illusionary abilities and the mysterious Cloud from years ago.**

 **There. I think I've covered everything. Hope you enjoyed!**


	4. Fourth Stanza: In Which Minds Are Blown

**Hello all! Here is something of a Part 2 to the previous Stanza. Since the last one covered Skull harmonizing with Xanxus, this one covers her introduction into the Varia and such. I had fun with this chapter, the Varia are highly entertaining to write. Leaves off on a tiny bit of a cliffhanger, but still.**

 **Review Response: Dear Freddie4153, greetings! Aw, thank you! So glad to hear you think it's brilliant!**

 **Dear wolfsrainrules, hi! (laughs) Whoo! Oh, just wait till you read the rest of this chapter, Mammon is in for quite a surprise indeed!**

 **Dear Guest(s), hello! While I am pleased that you think this story is good, I will not be changing my method of showing curse words. I personally despise curse words and, if I possibly could, would not use them in this story at all. However, if I left them out, I'm sure a lot of people would complain about the Varia being OOC for not cursing. This is my middle ground. If it truly frustrates you that much well (shrugs helplessly) you don't have to read it. There are literally hundreds of other KHR stories here on FanFiction that do not censor their curses and use them a LOT more than I do. Personally, I wish people would censor the curses in their stories a lot more, but whether they do or not is their choice, just as this is mine. I hope that did not come off as antagonistic, because I am merely trying to state and explain my reasoning/opinions. I also hope you will continue to enjoy my story despite "annoying censoring".**

 **Dear StepOnLego14, hi there! So glad you love it! I hope you find this update just as enjoyable!**

 **Dear Youko Artemis, hey there! Thank you for your compliments! I was really hoping that my blend of Transformers and KHR was enjoyable! Please enjoy this Varia and Skull-centric update!**

 **Author's Note: So, a quick explanation or two about later sections in the chapter for the curious. One, Silhouette is partly responsible for the Ombra's quick and thorough work. She hacked the network of the enemy and got a list of all their members, safe-houses, bases, etc and forwarded it to the Ombra. Two, Silhouette is also the reason Skull completes her mission the way she does without fear of being discovered. Silhouette hacked into the enemy cameras and deleted all video evidence. So even if the witnesses try to figure out how she did what she did, they would have to work on their adrenaline/fear-hazed memories and not clear video recordings. Also, for all who want translations for Japanese or Italian words used in this chapter, please refer to the bottom of the page, just like in my Fairy Tail story. Finally, for all those waiting for updates on either AUW or AMOSC, I will try to have AUW updated sometime tomorrow (no promises though) and I'm still working on the next chapter of AMOSC. If it's any consolation, the AMOSC chapter looks like it's going to be a long one.**

 **Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Transformers, or any terminology from the respective fandoms. The only things I own are my OCs who have run off with my plot (again).**

* * *

 **Fourth Stanza: In Which Walls Are Smashed and Minds Are Blown.**

 **Year: 2009. Season: Early Summer. Country: Italy. Age: Cursed.**

Skull stared up at the Varia. The Varia stared down at her. Silence reigned in the Varia Headquarters for a new record of three minutes while Xanxus just leaned against the wall in the background, careful not to agitate his healing injuries, and smirked in anticipation.

Mammon was the one to break the silence oddly enough, her voice as flat and dead as a wasteland even as her disapproval hummed pointedly at Xanxus, " **You** are Xanxus's new Cloud Guardian."

There was a spike of irritation, then vindictive mischief from Skull's bond and she puffed out her chest, "As if anyone but the Great and Immortal Skull-sama would be worth Xanxus's time!"

Xanxus blinked in distant surprise at the pompous, whiny tone. He'd almost forgotten how Skull usually acted around people. Skull hadn't played the idiot ex-civilian around him in months, showing her more sarcastic and witty side instead as he'd gained her trust. Then his smirk grew. So that was Skull's game was it? Test the other Guardians the same way she'd tested him?

This was going to be even more amusing than he'd first thought.

Though it also meant he'd need even more alcohol than usual to deal with the impending headaches.

Squalo's scowl deepened, "Voi! Then who was the b**** that hacked the Boss's phone?"

Skull shuffled slightly, " _Eto_ …that was probably Kawena. She dropped Xanxus off at my safe-house a few days ago. She must have hacked his phone around that time." Xanxus gave no indication that he knew Skull was lying. Technically, by mafia standards, Skull was actually still telling the truth. People used multiple aliases all the time and there was no rule against referring to that alias by its name and not as yourself. Not that the mafia followed non-Vindice rules in general anyway.

Mammon tilted her head, suspicion in her manner, "You were the contact with Xanxus of whom the hacker spoke?"

Skull shrugged, "I suppose so-ieee!" Skull danced back, flailing comically as she dodged the knife that had gone flying her way from Belphegor's fingers. Pointing with exaggerated agitation at the blond, Skull shrieked, "You dare throw that at the Great Skull-sama?"

Belphegor flicked three more knives at Skull, all of which were dodged with much shrieking, protesting, and flailing that Xanxus **knew** was a total act. He may have been mostly unconscious during Skull's intervention at the enemy mansion, but he did recall enough to know that Skull was much more coordinated and dangerous than she was currently pretending to be.

After Skull stopped shrieking to take a breath, Belphegor's lips twisted into the smile he used when he was particularly annoyed, "Ushishishi. Boss, can I skewer this one? He's annoying and useless."

Levi crossed his arms and scowled, "I fail to see how **you** managed to impress the Boss."

Xanxus growled, "Trash, you got a problem with my choice?"

His Guardians glanced at each other meaningfully, none of them daring to say that they did in fact have a problem with his choice. Xanxus glowered at them, though internally he was smirking. From the feelings vibrating to him from his new bond with Skull, they were going to regret underestimating her so badly. Eventually, Levi mumbled about how they did not doubt the Boss's judgement, just Skull's capability to handle their kind of missions.

Xanxus growled at them and straightened up. His burns and stitches twinged and he took a deep, slow breath to keep from showing any other signs of pain. Instantly, his Guardians shifted their attention away from the newcomer. Lussuria hurried over, "Boss~, does something hurt? Let me have a look!"

Xanxus sneered, "I don't need-"

His Cloud didn't say anything, but the sudden "agree or else" vibes over their new bond made him pause and shift his attention to her. His eyes narrowed, "Know your place, Chibi." _you may be my Cloud, but you can't give me orders_ , was left unspoken but heard between them.

Skull shifted defensively, still putting on a show for his other Guardians, "B-but every good stunt rider knows that you cannot perform perfectly if you refuse medical treatment!" _stop being stubborn and let you Sun have a look,_ was the unspoken retort.

His other Guardians glanced back and forth during the exchange, obviously trying to figure out Skull's place in their pecking order underneath Xanxus. Xanxus meanwhile, was debating whether his stubborn distaste for medical treatment when he didn't absolutely need it was worth risking a fussy Cloud. He had only been stuck in Skull's safe house for three days before they'd headed back to Italy, but Skull had already proved to be very … protective in ways he hadn't anticipated from a wielder of the supposedly most aloof Element. Then again, she was Inverted and part Mist.

With a snort, Xanxus turned away and headed for his office. His Guardians followed him silently up the various flights of stairs, scattering cautiously around the room as he sat down on his throne. He shot Lussuria a look and his Sun Guardian grinned and came forward without further prompting.

Sun flames gently swept through his system and Lussuria went very still, "Ma, ma, Boss~," Lussuria purred dangerously, "these are **not** just a few scratches."

Xanxus gave Lussuria a bland look, "It's fine."

Lussuria sent Sun flames through his deeper scratches, "With all due respect, Boss~, second degree burns, two bullet wounds, and seven different sets of stitches that are at least ten stitches long each is **not** fine."

Absolute silence fell in the wake of his words. Belphegor froze in mid-motion from where he'd been about to throw another knife at Skull. Squalo's mouth snapped shut from where he'd been arguing with Levi. Mammon, who had been steadily glaring at Skull from underneath her hood, now shifted her gaze to Xanxus.

Two seconds of stunned silence later, Squalo exploded, " **Voi**! I'm going to hunt every last one of those b******* down and f****** gut them!"

Belphegor started twirling the knife he'd been about to throw, "Ushishishi, maybe we should have kept Ventura alive for a little longer, it seems we didn't play rough enough with him."

Levi growled and clenched his fists, "When our men finish tracking down those b******* and their boss…"

Lussuria didn't look up from his work as he practically sang, "I'll bring the stapler and the pencil sharpener~."

Xanxus cracked an eye open, "There's no one to hunt down. They're all dead." Silhouette had personally confirmed that. Apparently, even though Skull wasn't affiliated with any of the Mafia families, she'd taken over a famiglia or three by accident over the years, though Skull had refused to explain how somebody took over a Famiglia by accident. After combining the famiglias, she'd placed a chosen subordinate as its Don. The Don dealt with day-to-day affairs and politics and could run the Famiglia mostly as he pleased, but had to perform any orders Skull relayed in payment for his position of power.

One phone call was all it had taken and Xanxus had gotten to watch via Skull's expansive monitors as the Ombra Famiglia tracked down and systematically wiped out every adult member of the american family that had ambushed Xanxus. The children had been taken away, to be absorbed, Skull explained, into the Ombra Famiglia.

It had been fast, efficient work that had reluctantly impressed the Sky. Not Varia Quality, but close enough to make him sit up and take notice.

Mammon tilted her head, "All of them? How so?" She didn't doubt his words, but as an information broker, it was an important factoid.

Lussuria stepped back, his work finished, and Xanxus leaned forward to pull a bottle of wine from his desk drawer, "The Ombra hunted the trash down and took them out."

Squalo rubbed his sword arm agitatedly, "Voi! Why the h*** would they do that? They aren't associated with the Vongola or the Varia!"

Levi crossed his arms over his chest, "Better question is **how** the h*** they did that. It would've taken time to track down all of the bases. They had to have left stragglers behind."

Xanxus let them debate, argue, and yell for a while until Mammon spoke up, "You know something about this, Skull?"

Skull twitched and flailed, "W-well- I- It might possibly…" she settled down and shrugged helplessly, "The Don of the Ombra Famiglia might, **might** , mind you … owe Kawena a few favors?"

Conversation erupted again until Xanxus got irritated with the noise level and threw his wine glass at Squalo's head, snarling at everyone to shut up and leave as he did so. His Guardians hastily filed out, most of them probably plotting various tests for Skull, with Mammon being the last one to leave. Mammon hesitated, looking as if she wanted to ask a question, but one long look from Xanxus had her leaving without a word. Xanxus reached into his desk drawer, pulled out a spare glass, and filled it with more wine.

It was time for the real fun, and headaches, to begin.

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* * *

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The next two weeks passed just as Skull thought they would.

Squalo ordered her around at top volume and many insults while waving his sword-hand too close to her helmet for most people's comfort.

Lussuria tried to push her psychological buttons by acting exaggeratedly clingy. He also cooed over Skull's "cuteness", attempted to startle her in the halls by popping up at random or even attempting to hug her, gave orders hidden as sing-song requests, and performed something dangerously similar to flirting. Thankfully for Lussuria, Skull's mirrors were strong and she managed to refrain hitting him between the legs with her sword-shaped letter opener over the last one.

Mammon just ignored her unless necessary and spoke with thickly veiled, but still visible, contempt whenever interaction was required.

Belphegor seemed to think she was his newest knife and prank target. Anything from smelly paint-bombs to barrages of knives were thrown her way at random intervals in the hallways, the various common rooms and the outdoors. He also pushed her boundaries incessantly. He stole the food she selected from the fridge, stole the remote and changed the channel if she tried to watch the T.V., and broke into her new room repeatedly to remove items and set traps at whim. He also took part in everyone's new favorite pastime of ordering her around.

It was Levi that gave Skull the most trouble, funnily enough. The man was overbearing like the others, but he was also a fanboy of Xanxus and made it clear that he perceived Skull as an unworthy interloper to Xanxus's attention. The biggest problem she had with him was that Levi wouldn't let her go anywhere. She hadn't left the Varia castle in all of those two weeks because of Levi, he was too busy testing her on all of the Varia recruitment requirements when the others weren't trying to force her onto the bottom rung of the Guardian ladder.

If she hadn't spent so long keeping her Mirrors from cracking under the force of the Arcobaleno, she probably would have snapped and beat them all into the ground a week ago.

But, even as her patience steadily dwindled and they tested her Mirror #1, she watched and tested in return. She didn't do anything as obvious as traps, but she reacted, raised and lowered sub-mirrors in complicated patterns to provoke reactions with which she gauged their character.

Squalo was loud, rude, and blunt, but he also treated the other accepted Guardians and everyone under his command equally. He wasn't **nice** by any normal definition of the word, but he didn't actually punish without due cause and he never dished out levels of verbal and physical abuse to that were beyond what the target in question could handle. He had rigid standards, he didn't play favorites, and any dissension in the ranks was dealt with almost before it could form.

Lussuria, for all that he acted crazy and vaguely air-headed, was observant. Dangerously observant. He could pick people apart and figure out how to either annoy them or calm them down within mere minutes of meeting them. He figured out Mirror #1's "hidden" ticks within that timeframe, and she suspected that over the past two weeks Lussuria had already managed to catch a glimpse or two behind Mirror #1. Though she honestly didn't mind too much that he had. Lussuria was the "mom" of the Varia Guardians and she knew that while he would continue to test her for a while, he had mostly accepted Xanxus's choice of Cloud Guardian already.

Skull had picked Mammon apart long ago and deemed her unworthy of seeing behind Skull's Mirrors. That original opinion still stood. However, since she knew that she would have to let the woman in sometime now that they were both Guardians of the same Sky, Skull simply decided that when she did allow Mammon past the Mirrors, it would be in such an obvious, dramatic way that it would shatter Mammon's view of the world into pieces.

Belphegor was simultaneously the bratty youngest sibling and the homicidal watch-dog of the Guardians. As a "watch-dog", Belphegor had learned to channel his bloodlust into both a way to keep the lower ranks safe, and an efficient threat-level assessment. For the grunts, Belphegor's pranks and fits of knife-throwing were carefully designed to keep their skills sharp with only minimal injuries. If anyone was seriously injured by his antics, it meant that they were a liability to his Sky and had to either be retrained or removed entirely.

For unknowns and possible threats to his Sky, like Skull, Belphegor's over-the-top attacks, pranks, and bullying were specifically geared to run her off if she was too big of a liability to be a good Guardian, or expose her if she was too large of a threat to allow close to Xanxus.

For all that Levi drove her Cloud instincts up the wall and across the ceiling with his rules and demands, she could still see that he was a good Lightning Guardian. He confronted things head-on in a manner that would make any fallout hit him and not the others. He was devoted to Xanxus and he made sure **everyone** knew it and that anyone who got close to Xanxus was just as loyal as he. Any signs of dissension or disloyalty were blocked from reaching Xanxus and pushed back on itself. He may not have been the **brightest** flash of lightning in a thunderstorm, but he was arguably the most focused she had ever come across that wasn't an Inverted Lightning.

Slowly, Skull was determining that these were people worthy of allowing past her Mirrors like she had allowed Xanxus. If she could just retain enough patience with them to not beat them all over the head with her favorite wrench. She had mentioned that desire to Silhouette earlier and something about her dark snarl and her fingering of said tool had caused the cybertronian femme to reflexively flinch and mutter about demon medics for reasons lost on Skull.

Then one day, Levi pushed too far and things came to a head.

Skull glared from within her helmet at the man who was preventing the garage door from opening. Levi glared back, arms crossed and an eyebrow raised suspiciously, "Where do you think you're going, Lackey?"

Oh yes, that was another reason she wanted to hit Levi with a wrench. He had somehow picked up Reborn's nickname for Mirror #1 and now used it whenever he was irritated with her. Which was ninety-nine percent of every daytime hour and fifty percent of the night ones. Silhouette had run actual calculations to conclude that.

Straightening up behind Silhouette's handlebars, Skull gritted out through Mirror #1, "Out? Where does it look like I'm going?"

Levi continued to glower down at her, "You haven't been assigned a mission."

Skull waved her arms, "So? I c-can take a ride around town if I want! My bike needs a good run to make sure everything's working righ-"

Levi growled and stomped toward her, "Who cares about your d*** bike, Lackey? You were not given authorization to leave the premises! You'll just get into trouble and bother Boss! Go back inside! You're hunk of junk isn't going to rust between now and when Boss deems you worthy of a mission."

Skull had stiffened during his first sentence, but at his last, she had gone dangerously rigid. Silhouette attempted to soothe her over their bond, saying she wasn't insulted, that Levi was just an idiot, and that it wasn't worth Skull's time and effort. Skull almost, almost, listened to her.

Then Levi gave off little jolts of Lightning Flame static, static she knew was strong enough to hurt Silhouette if it touched, while reaching to roughly grab Skull off of her sister's alt mode.

Now, Skull was an inverted Cloud. She was normally very easygoing compared to Classic Clouds and she tried to give people the benefit of doubt and circumstance. But being cooped up for two weeks in a castle full of people who treated her like either a threat or trash had already agitated her Cloud instincts and need to travel to dangerous levels, and now Levi was threatening one of **Skull's** people. Part of her **Territory**. It didn't matter that the threat was unintentional, it was enough to tip her Cloud side over the proverbial edge.

She barely managed to restrain her instincts enough to make sure Levi would have enough air time to harden his body before he went through the far wall of the garage and three more inside the castle itself.

Levi had barely landed in a shower of debris and the occupants of the living room had barely had enough time to process that it was Levi who had just gone whipping past them into the nearest wall and not a threat before Skull caught up with the Lightning Guardian. She landed on top of him as he fell out of the crater in the living room wall and to the floor, her boots digging into the nape of his neck.

Pressure flooded the room as Skull's shadow twisted and morphed into the shape of the adult Skull De Mort. Everyone in the room went utterly still, even Squalo freezing from where he'd been leaping up from the couch to demand an explanation. Skull leaned down so that the mouthpiece of her helmet was next to Levi's right ear, "My bike is **not** a piece of junk and you will **never** refer to her as such. You will also **never** approach her while giving off static Lightning Flames, or I will take your umbrellas and **thread them through your vertebrae**. Am I understood?"

Sweat slid down Levi's forehead as the pressure in the room grew to a near unbearable point. Squalo's muscles were wire-tight, his sword twitching with restrained intent and Belphegor kept making aborted movements towards his knives.

Just as things were reaching a breaking point, Xanxus's Sky flames filled the room, "Skull." Skull looked up from where she was leaning over Levi, danger screaming from every line of her tiny body. Xanxus leaned against the doorframe to the living room, his red eyes scanning the situation with implacable calm. Skull tugged harshly on their bond, silently conveying her feelings of _smothered-enraged-need-to-move-need-to-be-free-_ and Xanxus jerked his head toward the hole in the wall, "Go. Mission when you get back."

Skull stared at him for a few more seconds before she nodded curtly and stomped through the holes she'd made in the walls back to the garage. Slapping the garage door controls, she clambered back onto Silhouette and they took off at top speed.

They did not return for three weeks.

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* * *

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Squalo paused mid-word in the mission briefing when Xanxus sat up on his throne and shifted his attention to the window. Mammon tilted her head to one side, "Boss?"

Xanxus rested his chin on his hand, a vaguely smug look in his eyes, "Change of plans, trash."

Squalo scowled, "Voi! What the h***, S***** Boss? We've been planning this hit for a two weeks! What the f*** do you mean 'change of plans'?"

Xanxus shot Squalo a warning look, one hand drifting toward his guns at the disrespectful address. Belphegor hummed and spun one of his knives between his fingers, head tilting curiously at his boss's words. Mammon jumped over to the window and peered down, trying to identify what had changed Xanxus's mind.

After several minutes of Xanxus refusing to explain himself, Squalo yelling at him and Belphegor twirling his knives impatiently, the door to the briefing room opened. All heads save Xanxus's immediately turned to see who had entered. Skull dropped down from the doorknob and stalked inside, seemingly oblivious to the absolute silence that had fallen over the room.

Skull jumped up onto the large table with maps and other data spread across it and turned her gaze expectantly to her Sky. Xanxus drawled, "About time you showed up, Chibi."

Skull flinched and waved her arms slightly, " _Gomenasai_ , Xanxus-sama! But the traffic on the way back was terrible and-"

Xanxus flicked a hand lazily, "Be quiet. Squalo's going to explain your mission. Oi, trash get on with it."

Squalo looked positively thunderous, "Voi! This f****** wimp isn't part of the plan, S***** Boss! There's nothing to explain!"

Xanxus's gaze sharpened, his Flames flaring in a subtle display of power to garner silence, "Yes. He is. This is now officially his initiation mission. Mammon will be his backup and the on-field judge of his skill-level."

Belphegor hissed, "This was supposed to be my and Mammon's mission with the peasant Shark as backup. Surely you can't want to replace us on the mission roster for this … squeaky toy of a Cloud."

The pressure of Xanxus's Sky Flames grew fractionally as Xanxus dropped one hand onto the grip of his pistol, "Shut up, Trash."

Belphegor's mouth snapped shut as he sensed that his Sky was serious about the order. Squalo looked ready to wave his sword around and bellow, but the steady pressure in the room coming from Xanxus warned that his boss was very serious and would not tolerate being questioned on his decision.

Mammon clicked her tongue in disapproval and turned to Skull, "Fine then. Moue, listen up idiot, this is a vital mission on behalf of the Vongola Famiglia. It is also your official initiation into the Varia, so **do** try not to mess up too badly."

Skull gave a squawk of protest at the "too badly" part, but Mammon pressed on, obeying her Sky's wishes in including the newest Guardian. Pushing a dossier of information over to Skull, Mammon intoned, "The mission is political assassination and information retrieval. The target is Fulberto, an officer of the Pessolano Famiglia in charge of their human trafficking activities. Vongola Decimo has attempted to negotiate with them to stop, but their response to his advances were … less than satisfactory. It's been decided that a more forceful demonstration of displeasure is required."

Skull flipped through the dossier as Mammon continued, "The mission, which was originally going to be handled by myself and Belphegor, is to retrieve all available information Fulberto has on the Pessolano's human trafficking ring and eliminate him in order to discourage the Pessolano from continuing the practice."

Skull had closed the dossier and had moved to study the maps and extra data the Varia had collected in preparation for the mission while Mammon continued to list known information, including estimated guard strength, the established patterns of the target, and the most likely locations for where the desired papers or computer data would be kept.

Eventually, Mammon fell silent and Squalo slammed his metal hand on the table with a snarl, "Voi! You got all, d*** trash? You'll be wearing surveillance equipment so we can watch how badly you f*** up from here!"

Skull looked up from the photos she'd been studying, her helmet hiding all expression. Through their bond, Xanxus felt a soft thrum of serious concentration even as his Cloud continued to posture and brag as was expected of her. He wondered briefly over that, the chosen mask his Cloud wore. He could see its advantages, but he wondered how she suppressed the Cloud instinct to not be caged by anything, even expectation, long enough to maintain the facade.

As Skull jumped down, dodging Belphegor's idly thrown knife, and headed for the door, Xanxus called after her, "Chibi."

Skull paused in the doorway, helmet turning to acknowledge him, "Y-Yes, Boss?"

Xanxus leaned back on his throne, his hands lightly gripping the armrests as he growled, "Don't f****** hold back."

Skull stared for a few seconds, before she nodded seriously and left, Mammon trailing along behind to prepare the surveillance equipment and serve as backup which only Xanxus was sure that Skull wouldn't need.

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* * *

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Skull lay on her stomach on the rooftop, using the zoom function built into her customized helmet to observe her target one last time before moving. She had been given a week to complete the mission, six days of which she had spent observing her target and setting up her plan while Silhouette secretly hacked into the hard drive of every computer and phone connected to the network of the Pessolano and copied every scrap of information they contained.

Beside her, Mammon practically radiated skepticism and disapproval while below her, Fulberto went about his business on the open street. Even though strict radio silence was being enforced between herself and Varia headquarters, Skull could practically hear Squalo, Belphegor, and the by-now-returned Levi yelling at her to grab a sniper rifle and take the shot.

Skull made no move to do so. She just watched as Fulberto climbed into his car and was driven away by his chauffeur. Mammon hissed softly, "Moue, you really are a stupid Lackey. That was the fifth perfect opportunity to complete half of your objective you've passed up this week."

Skull shook her head and stood up, "Hmm, you doubt the Great Skull-sama's strategy? I have a brilliant plan that requires nothing so petty as a sniper-rifle!"

Mammon clicked her tongue, "You're wasting time and time is money."

Skull's helmet HUD pinged and pulled up a small window. Data scrolled down rapidly through the window as Silhouette's voice drifted through the private com, "This is the last of it. I've checked everything over and from every indication, this is all of the important data. Anything on paper would either be copies or miscellaneous."

Turning off the external speaker for a moment, Skull made for the stairs leading off of the roof, "So it would seem. Schedule?"

"You called it correctly. He's visiting the Pessolano Famiglia's headquarters today to report." Silhouette paused, then asked, "Are you really going to do this? So soon?"

Skull hummed quietly to herself as she took the stairs five at a time, "Yes."

"…Why?" There was a pulse of worry from Silhouette's end of their bond, the doubt about Skull's decision, "They could turn on you, Skull. He could leave you."

"You don't understand, Silhouette. I … I don't even think I understand it fully. But he is my Sky now, just as he is theirs and we are his. I can't hide from them forever, Silhouette. Elements have to protect our Sky and to do that, we need to integrate." Skull sighed faintly, "It isn't as if I will tell them **everything**. But I cannot protect what is Mine if they think I am too weak to do so and end up getting in my way."

Walking out the back door of the corporate building she had snuck onto the roof of, Skull murmured darkly, "I'm going to make a **point** Silhouette, a point that has been far too long in coming."

Silhouette sent a gentle pulse of support, "Alright. I'll follow your lead on this one, Bright Spark, but do be careful."

Skull clambered onto Silhouette's alt mode and smirked to herself, "Now where would the fun in that be, Sil?"

Silhouette revved her engine in grudging laughter as they pulled away and made for the Pessolano manor.

It was the middle of the afternoon when Skull arrived at the mansion. Mammon was somewhere overhead, Fantasma keeping her airborne as she observed Skull on her mission. The tiny camera setup attached to Skull's suit, one in the front on her chest, one on each shoulder, and one between her shoulder blades, allowed the others back at Varia Castle to observe her as well.

Security at Fulberto Pessolano's house was tight. Efficient bodyguards and frequent patrols would have made it difficult to enter the grounds unnoticed. However, compared to the security at the Pessolano's main house, Fulberto's home was practically unguarded.

Security cameras lined the high stone fence with its iron-spiked top as well as the very eaves and hallways of the house. Guards and trained attack dogs patrolled the perimeter of the property while Flame-users patrolled the manor itself. No one, not even Famiglia members, could get in without a verbally spoken passcode that was randomly generated and made for one-time use. The concept of sneaking inside the grounds, let alone the house, and remaining unnoticed for very long was insane.

So it was a good thing for Skull that she had no intention of sneaking in.

She was going in through the front gate.

Silhouette slowed to a stop obediently as the guards at the gate waved their weapons menacingly and ordered her to halt. The protective canopy rolled back and Skull sat up. She waved an indignant fist at the nearest guard, "What are you doing? You're going to make me late!"

The men had tensed at the sight of an Arcobaleno and raised their weapons, "You don't have an appointment-"

Skull waved both arms childishly, "Oh, bother. What was that stupid number code- Ah! I remember! My passcode is 067-452-910. There, see? Now let me in, or the Great Skull-sama will be most displeased!"

The two men glanced at each other, confused expressions on their faces before they reluctantly stepped aside and called for the gate to be opened. The large iron-wrought gates slid open and Skull drove in with a high-pitched huff and a, "About time! I'm a busy man, I don't have time for waiting around!"

By the time she had gone up yet another long driveway and parked Silhouette at the front door of the manor, the guards at the gate had already called ahead. A butler was waiting for her as well as three well-armed guards whom she sensed had weak but active Sun Flames.

Skull smiled thinly from within her helmet as she was escorted inside and led toward the Pessolano Boss's office.

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* * *

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Back at Varia headquarters, Squalo was practically rabid with ire, " **Voooiiii**! What does that b****** think he's doing? He's going to d*** well get himself killed and tip our f****** hand!"

Levi's hair was giving off occasional lightning bolts he was so furious, "Wasted a perfectly good opportunity for a shot! Again! Idiot!"

Belphegor sharpened his knives, his smile strained and too-wide, more closely resembling the snarl of a wild animal, "Boss is going to be looking for a new Cloud Guardian soon, ushishishi…"

Lussuria sighed and cradled his cheek with a hand, "I don't understand it~, I thought Skull-kun was smarter than this. Though, I have to wonder … how **did** he get an entry code into the Pessolano manor in the first place?"

Squalo rounded on Lussuria, "What the f*** does it matter? He's going to get f****** killed unless Mammon pulls him out in time, and either way we'll have to start the d*** mission over from scratch!"

Xanxus, from his chair in the center of the room, snarled abruptly, "Quiet, trash."

His Guardians reluctantly fell silent and turned their eyes back to the monitoring equipment. Skull had been escorted into the very heart of the Pessolano manor and was currently being told by the butler to please wait there while he was announced. Skull squawked indignantly, a sound the Varia Guardians were already growing to hate, and said, "Well, make it snappy! I didn't come all this way to sit around waiting! Your Boss is the one who summoned me!"

The butler disappeared into the office and a moment later, the door was opened again and Skull was ushered in-

Only to be faced by a seven-man wall of firearms, the barrels all pointed at his head.

Squalo clenched a fist and swore under his breath, shooting a glance at Xanxus to see how his Sky would react to the sight on camera. Belphegor shook his head with a sneer while Lussuria gasped in concern and Levi muttered a "I told you so". Xanxus was still, his red eyes never leaving the huge monitors in front of him, nothing leaking across his bonds with his Guardians. He was utterly unreadable.

The idiot Skull had been yowling high-pitched protests and demands for explanations during the entire time the Varia were reacting to the sight of the guns. From behind the protective wall of bodyguards, the boss of the Pessolano called coldly, "I did not summon Skull of the Arcobaleno to my home. How did you get the passcode to bypass the guards outside?"

The rapid bobbing of the arm cameras suddenly stopped and fell into neutral positions that indicated Skull had lowered his arms loosely to his sides, "Why, Mister Pessolano, I'm hurt. Do you not recall? You emailed it to me."

The Varia in the security room went very, very still, eyes wide with confusion at the silken alto voice that filtered over the speakers to them. There was a faint blurring of indigo that blocked off the cameras' view for a few seconds, then it cleared to reveal an entirely different perspective. A much **taller** perspective.

The rich alto continued with tiny traces of amusement, "You **did** wish to employ my services, did you not, Mister Pessolano?"

The bodyguards on screen took nervous steps back as one name, one title, hissed from their lips almost unanimously. Xanxus sat up straight, his eyes glinting with an almost unholy light while his watching Guardians tried to put their world back on its axis.

Because seriously, what?

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* * *

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Floating near the ceiling of the office in a corner, Mammon felt her heart freeze in her chest the moment the powerful Mist flames erupted from Skull's body, burning away the image of the weakest of the Arcobaleno and revealing another form underneath it. _It can't be…_

A ridiculously painted helmet gave way to elbow-length black hair tied up in a braided bun, faceless visor with wide purple eyes and overdone makeup underneath faded to sharp cheekbones and hooded brown eyes. The tiny toddler body morphed and twisted into a slender, five foot four inch frame of pure muscle while the black and purple jumpsuit and gloves seemed to burn away to reveal a button up silk dress shirt of dark ruby, black dress pants, and long coils of wire bracelets on both wrists. _It … that's impossible. It … it can't be her._

The woman's lips twitched into a deceptively tiny smirk as she purred, "You **did** wish to employ my services, did you not, Mister Pessolano?" The guards took uneasy steps back, all of them murmuring the infamous title rattling around in Mammon's brain, "Femme Fatale…"

Data clashed within Mammon's mind, repelling off each other every time she tried to reconcile them. Femme Fatale, Skull, Femme Fatale, Skull, Femme Fatale-. _Can't be Skull, it can't be, and yet…_ It was only decades of professionalism that had Mammon reflexively listen in as the Pessolano boss stood up from his chair, "What is the meaning of this?"

The smirk dropped from the face of … Skull? Femme Fatale? The woman, in favor of a blank neutrality that Mammon knew far too well, "Too much? My apologies, I believed a demonstration of my skills were in order. The Pessolano have never contracted me before, and most are … skeptical of my true capabilities for all they hear of tales of my talents."

The woman's voice rolled and fell in certain patterns, patterns Mammon had made a point to memorize years ago, before the Curse, before she had ever even heard the name "Arcobaleno". Fingers of the woman's right hand twitched minutely, as if twirling an invisible pen or toothpick between them while her weight shifted subtly to her left hip more than her right. All of these were patterns, tics, that Mammon had made it her business to learn and remember decades ago.

It wouldn't have done to have been unable to recognize her favorite client, no matter what Femme Fatale's chosen form had been on any given day.

 _It's her._ But it had been Skull earlier. Mammon **knew** it had been Skull. She had spent each and every hour of the past six days by the idiot Cloud's side, watching as Skull steadily botched opportunity after opportunity to take out Fulberto in favor of some unknown and most likely flawed plan. Mammon had **felt** Skull's flames as they subtly shifted and swirled underneath her fellow Arcobaleno's skin, unique in their eternal movement through his body.

Flames were unique. There were no two Flame signatures that were truly identical, even twins had trace differences in their Flames. Mists could mimic Flame signatures to a certain degree and get away with it because most people either weren't that Flame sensitive or didn't know the impersonated person's Flame that well.

But Mammon was Flame sensitive and she had had **years** to memorize each of the Arcobaleno's signatures. To learn the tiny flaws, quirks, and hidden flickers of each one of her fellow cursed "babies".

It had been Skull she had followed those six days, Mammon was sure. Absolutely sure.

Yet just as she was sure that Skull had been the one she had followed around, she was certain that this was the woman she had not seen in years. This was Femme Fatale. Not a successor or a descendent as the rest of the Mafia world assumed, but the **original** Femme Fatale.

 _B-but that would mean … that would mean…_

The Pessolano boss had waved his bodyguards back to their original positions around the room and made a dismissive motion to Fulberto, who had been about to leave the room when Skull- Femme Fatale- the woman, had entered, "Yes, well. As you know from the original offer, the Pessolano wish to employ your services to remove an … inconvenience to our business."

The woman tilted her head and ghosted closer to Fulberto as he made to leave the room, not acknowledging Pessolano's words "And who would you be?" Her murmur was low, thick, seductive in a way that sent shivers up the spines of every man in the room. Mammon felt a shiver crawl up her spine as well, but for a different reason. There were Mist Flames coating that simple sentence, Flames that implanted the suggestion of attraction, snagged and pulled at the attention, coaxed the listener into lingering to answer the question.

Lacing vocal cords with Mist Flames was a tricky, dangerous business that only the very skilled could perform. To lace it so subtly that a person had to be Flame sensitive in order to sense the manipulation was indicative of prodigal skill. _Or decades of time to master it._

Fulberto's pupils dilated and his hands twitched as he mumbled his name in answer to the woman's question. The Pessolano boss scowled, "Fulberto, leave us. Miss Fatale, if you would kindly focus on the business for which you were brought here-"

The woman's lips twisted into something predatory as she leaned closer to Fulberto, "Oh, but I am." There was the faintest blur of motion, the glitter of steel, and Fulberto dropped to the ground with a knife driven through his temple. The guards raised their weapons, words of alarm beginning to drop from their lips when Mammon heard faint whistles of displaced air and they dropped like stones, identical knives buried in their skulls.

The Don of the Pessolano flinched back against his seat, fear in his eyes as he spluttered, "What is the meaning of this? What are you doing?"

Femme Fatale, it had to be her because Mammon had never seen anyone else so picky about killing targets by stabbing or shooting them in the head, gave the Don an unimpressed look, "What else would I be doing? Completing my current job."

At the flabbergasted, terrified expression on the man's face, Femme Fatale drawled, "What, you truly believed I would be stupid enough to accept a job against the **Vongola** , against their **Decimo**? I did not get so far in my career by burning bridges with the powerful, important players of the underworld, Don Pessolano."

Don Pessolano pulled out a gun and pointed it at Femme Fatale shakily. Mammon tensed in the air, ready to provide backup even though somewhere in the depths of her reeling mind, she realized that the woman who had been Skull a few minutes ago wouldn't need it. With shaking hands, Don Pessolano hissed, "So that is what this is about? You were hired by that filthily little upstart to get rid of me because I won't cooperate with his stupid ideas? Guards! **Guards**!"

The walls shimmered with Mist that only Mammon could see or feel as Femme Fatale drawled, "One, your guards cannot hear you. Two, do you really think that the Vongola are the only ones you have angered? Even if they were, why would Vongola Decimo bother with the exorbitant fees of a freelancer when he could just send the Varia to make a point?"

The man paled at the thought of the Varia. Femme Fatale took a lazy step forward and the Don snapped off a shot with his pistol desperately. The lithe woman sidestepped milliseconds before the gun actually fired, dodging the bullet with seeming ease before the fingers of her right hand flicked in a lazy motion Mammon recalled from years ago.

The toothpick went straight through the metal of the gun with a loud crack of steel, ripping the now-broken weapon out of Don Pessolano's hand. Mammon had seen the move twice before, but this time, she was paying close enough attention to realize a very important fact she had somehow overlooked those previous times.

The toothpick wasn't an illusion made to intimidate, it was a real one that had been thrown with enough force to perform a seemingly impossible act. _Only Cloud flames could propagate enough force for that…_

With the Don now disarmed, Femme Fatale stalked closer, her voice taking on an almost whimsy air as she spoke, "You know, this is not the first time Femme Fatale has been hired to perform a hit against the Pessolano because of your little trafficking ring. No, the first time was back in … 1974, I believe. Back when your Famiglia was just a young upstart of a thing that had no idea just how out of your league you were. If I recall correctly, that first hit was because the Pessolano Don of the time was careless and sold a member of a much more important Famiglia. Femme Fatale was hired to … express extreme displeasure over the Pessolano's activities back then, which she did by killing the Don of that time."

There was a blink, a breath's worth of time between sentences, and suddenly Don Pessolano was pinned against the wall by deceptively slender arms, "It would seem that the assassination of that Don all those years ago did not adequately relay the desired message to the Pessolano. Therefor, I have been hired to make the point anew and make sure it **sticks** this time."

Hooded brown eyes flickered lazily over to the dead body of Fulberto, then back to the squirming Don, "Any and all individuals placed in Fulberto's now-vacant position will be disposed of. Anyone who attempts to prevent me from removing Fulberto's successors will be disposed of. Furthermore, for every dollar of profit you gain from your trafficking ring, I will ensure that you will have to pay a minimum of a hundred dollars more to repair damages to your house, estates, and equipment, starting with your main headquarters as today's first example."

A grin that was disturbingly similar to Belphegor's spread across her face and Mammon saw a flash of dark purple flicker through the woman's eyes, "Considering that your last quarterly profit was well into the millions of dollars, I'm going to be making a **lot** of noise before I leave. Again, anyone who attempts to stop me will be removed, and you will have to pay for the undertaker on top of structural and item damage. So once I remove the sound dampening from the room, you may want to tell your men to stay back, hmm?"

Don Pessolano hissed in her face, struggling to get free of her grip, "W-who hired you, b****?"

The Don was backhanded to the floor while Femme Fatale answered flatly, "Like I stated earlier, someone who is paying me very well to make sure that the Pessolano get the message and that this time it **sticks**."

Without waiting for a further reply, Femme Fatale strode toward the doors, one hand idly slapping the Don's expensive mahogany desk on her way out. Mammon felt her breath hitch at the pulse of Cloud flames that exuded from the move, causing the reverberations of the seemingly little blow to shatter the desk into four jagged pieces.

The wall of Mist flames that had been preventing any sound from leaking out of the room faded out and Femme Fatale … Skull? knocked the door down without hesitation.

What followed next took Mammon's already shattered view on the world and her fellow Arcobaleno and ground it into dust before dancing viciously on its remains. The woman who was Femme Fatale yet also Skull strode through the manor, smashing through walls, slashing through paintings, demolishing vases and expensive furniture with deceptively light strikes and a lazy expression. Members of the Pessolano Famiglia ran to stop her, only to be knocked aside, thrown through walls, or killed by lightning quick illusions that could only be created by decades of practice and strong flames.

By the time the Pessolano Don had gathered enough of his wits to order his men to leave the woman alone, no matter what she was doing to the property, the death toll was already up to seventy and collections of holes caused by the many bullets that had missed their intended mark had been added to the property damage.

Mammon followed along numbly, a part of her mind automatically cataloging techniques used and the amount of damages caused, while the rest of her tried to breathe through the haze of shock that wrapped around her.

By the time they had left the manor, which had incurred damages well into the hundreds of millions and Femme Fatale was straddling her bike to leave, Mammon felt like she'd just been slapped, shot, turned upside-down, shaken vigorously, and then dumped into a mid-winter lake as she asked herself over and over again "how had she missed this?"

There were no words spoken as the motorcycle and its rider drove away from the scene of destruction. Nor was any conversation exchanged once they were well out of sight of the Pessolano and the form of Femme Fatale flared out of existence to reveal Skull's tiny cursed body, familiar bodysuit, silly helmet, and an unassuming bumbling demeanor that gave no hint of the destruction he … she? had just caused.

Mammon finally regained use of her tongue when they had reached the airport and boarded a private Varia plane, with Skull's beloved bike safely stashed in the cargo hold, "…How?"

The helmeted head turned fractionally to acknowledge her whisper, "Hmmm?"

"Who are you?" Blurted Mammon as she sat heavily on the seat across from Skull-not-Skull, "Who are you really?"

The helmet tilted further, "What are you talking about, Viper? I'm Skull De Mort."

Mammon clenched a fist and hissed, "You can't. You can't be. Skull De Mort is weak, a coward, a **lackey**! Skull De Mort-"

A voice, so like Skull's yet flat and hard in a way that the whining ex-stuntman's had never been, cut her off, "Is the strongest Cloud Flame user in the world and," here, tiny hands reached up and pulled off the helmet to reveal glittering purple eyes as hard as amethysts, "the greatest fragging stuntman to ever live." Skull's nostrils flared slightly as he hissed, "I was the **best** , Viper, I was **peerless** in my chosen field. I didn't get the luxury of a steady paycheck, I lived solely because of my ability to **work the crowd**."

Mammon felt off balance, like she'd gotten drunk without ever touching alcohol, or like she'd been hit by a powerful illusion. _No,_ she corrected herself dizzily, _not hit by one …_ ** _freed_** _from one. One that I've been under for over thirty years._ Despite the raw, astounding realization, a denial still slipped from Mammon's lips, "But … you're just a civilian…"

Something dangerous flashed through Skull's eyes even as a wide, feral smile curled over his lips, " **Wrong** , Viper. I am a **showman**. I throw myself at death and escape without a scratch because that kind of thrill is what it takes to make the crowd pay for my supper. I am the one who walks onto the field and screams of my fame and skill to all who can hear because the crowd expects arrogance from the World's Greatest Stuntman. I am what my audience believes me to be. I am an arrogant punk with piercings and a fancy bike. I am a daredevil that is hated by Death itself. I am unstoppable, I am incorrigible, I am **immortal** because that is what the crowd expects to see and I have to give them whatever they desire because **that is how you survive in that world**."

The feral smile dropped and Skull sat back calmly in his seat, "When I walked into that mansion for the first time over thirty years ago, all of you, **all of you** , took one look at me and labeled me an ignorant, arrogant civilian with no clue as to what he was getting into and no stomach for violence or weapons. You took one look at me, barely even listened to me say my name, and decided that I was the weakest, the lackey."

Another smile flashed across his face, but this one was as bitter as the other had been savage, "You were my audience. So I gave you **exactly** what you wanted and, just like every other audience I have performed for, you never once bothered to question what you saw. Not during all of the times I survived our missions together, or got you out of a bind with my driving or my perfectly timed and 'coincidental' clumsiness. Not even after we were all Cursed and I continued to survive the mafia despite being supposedly ignorant of its workings and none of you could be bothered to so much as look at me."

Something dark flickered through Skull's eyes as he traced a tiny circle dangerously close to his heart and Mammon had the decency to flinch as Skull added, "Not even when I took a fragging bullet for you from a sniper that a 'stupid civilian' should have been wholly unaware of."

Skull crossed his arms placidly over his chest, "All of you were the greatest minds and strongest flames in the world, but you never stopped for a moment to think that I was one of you **for a reason**. That a stuntman is a showman and do you know what a showman's greatest asset is, **Viper**?"

Mammon swallowed hard, things clicking into place with brutal clarity that made her wonder how she could have ever missed it. How could she have been so blind? Why was it that it was only now, after it had been bluntly pointed out to her, that she saw the inconsistencies in the facade of Skull De Mort? Why had she, the World's Greatest Esper and Information Broker, not seen the truth right in front of her face? She had known Skull for over thirty years, over **three decades** , and it had taken watching Skull demolish a Famiglia manor like a living, breathing natural disaster for her to realize just what he could do.

Skull was watching her, apparently waiting for an answer to his pointed question and Mammon could barely speak, barely breathe the answer past her reeling mind, _a showman's greatest asset…_ "Misdirection."

Skull scoffed softly, contempt overflowing from the noise at just how long it had taken, just how obvious he'd had to be, for Mammon to acknowledge that simple fact. Sliding out of the seat, Skull moved to sit on the far side of the plane, leaving Mammon to futilely attempt to put her world back on its broken axis.

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* * *

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The Varia sat in utter, absolute silence as Skull walked away from Mammon and, with a curt mutter of taking a nap on the flight, disconnected the cameras attached to his suit. The large screens went black, static hissing through the speakers, and still the Varia didn't speak.

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* * *

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Belphegor fingered his knives reflexively, mind dancing with memories of the swift, brutal deaths inflicted by the little purple-haired chibi he had bullied for two weeks. The mental image of the shrieking, flailing, bumbling Arcobaleno clashed with the recently witnessed coordination, calm, and destructive capability. He had always known that Mists were unpredictable, capable of hiding behind masks … but to see a Mist's cunning and deception mixed with the clearly blood-thirsty temper of a Cloud…

It was probably a good thing Belphegor hadn't had a chance to pull off that latest prank he'd been planning. He might be a blood-happy psychopath, but even he knew that with some people, there were lines that you just didn't cross if you wanted to keep your limbs.

A grin flickered over his face as he rearranged his mental lists of people-who-were-fun and people-to-stab-for-fun. _Prince could use that savagery on his side when he is bored._

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Levi wondered if this was what having a heart attack felt like. _So that's why Boss picked him,_ he thought dizzily to himself. Memories of crashing through four walls for getting too close to Skull's bike flickered through his mind and Levi blanched against his will. If he had actually hit or damaged the bike… Levi shook his head to clear it, there was no sense in thinking about that. What mattered was that after that performance, Skull was in fact worthy of Xanxus-sama's attention. Not that Levi wanted to admit that out loud. Or that he didn't still consider the Misty Cloud a possible threat to his Boss.

He would have to keep testing … though more discreetly and far, far away from the Cloud's precious bike.

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* * *

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Lussuria fiddled with the rim of his sunglasses, a bright smile crawling up his lips. So, he'd been right. There had been a much more dangerous side to little Skull-kun than the Cloud Arcobaleno had let on. Now he could see why Xanxus-sama had spent so many months disappearing to America to court the Misty Cloud. _And that destruction … oh, I think that one is going to fit in just fine around here._ A new thought occurred to him and his smile turned just a bit tetchy, _which also means that Skull-kun has probably been skipping his … her? Medical checkups for a while. Now that just won't do._

Shaking off the shock that had fallen on his limbs, Lussuria was the first to break rank and leave the room, his mind already categorizing all the things he would need in order to run a full and thorough checkup on their newest addition. He recalled how aggravatingly difficult it was to pin down the members of the Cloud squad for their checkups and idly wondered if he still had any of those flavored candies laced with mild paralytics. Just until he had Skull-kun trained to recognize the futility of running away of course.

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Squalo exhaled slowly as he processed everything he had seen and heard. Then he snorted with explosive contempt, _weakest of the Arcobaleno my a**._ He shot a brief glance at Xanxus and suppressed a flinch at the expression of pure, unholy glee on his Sky's face. He knew that look. That was the look that usually preceded chaos, massive amounts of property damage, and equally massive amounts of headache-inducing paperwork.

Squalo had only seen that look three times before in his life. The first time was just after he'd Harmonized with Xanxus, an event which dragged Squalo's life into its current perpetual state of chaos. The second had been after some hotshot with an impressively strong Flame and disgustingly tiny IQ had been stupid enough to challenge a young Xanxus for his place as head of the Varia. The third time had been right before his Sky had caused an International Incident that was afterward declared a Vongola Famiglia secret, never to be spoken of in detail again.

Shaking his head at the thought of the impending mass destruction and paperwork that expression heralded, Squalo nevertheless allowed a predatory smile of his own to form, _The world's going to get one h*** of a wake up call about Skull De Mort, and I'm going to enjoy every f****** minute of it. Especially when it comes out that the Varia have not only the World's Strongest Cloud, but That Woman as well…_

.

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* * *

.

.

Xanxus was grinning. Not smirking, not giving a relaxed half-glower that indicated amusement, but really, truly grinning like a cat that had just been left alone in the same room as a flightless canary. His red eyes sparked faintly with amber hints of his Sky Flame as something deep inside him purred smugly. Femme Fatale. Skull De Mort was the one and only **Femme Fatale**.

He had to bite back laughter just thinking about it. The Varia had been hoping to recruit the aloof freelance assassin for **years** , since the time Tyr the First Sword Emperor had been running it, only to be rebuffed again and again by the simple fact that no one could find her outside of her jobs and not even the Varia were reckless enough to interrupt Femme Fatale while she was working. Assassins tended to be … touchy about interruptions during work and touchy assassins tended to be the ones that ripped out your eyeballs and sold them for earrings as punishment.

Decades of attempting to find and recruit Femme Fatale the Mist, or her successor as the years went by, and he had Harmonized with her as his Cloud.

The irony of the situation was almost more disturbing than it was hilarious. He went and courted the "weakest" of the Arcobaleno as his Cloud. The lackey, the coward, the ex-civilian, and not only gained the woman who was the World's Strongest Cloud, but who was also Femme Fatale, renowned as the World's Greatest Female Assassin.

And that wasn't even counting her metallic alien sister figure, who also happened to be her precious motorcycle and the implications that went with "giant alien robot refugee from space".

Luck was a fickle, fickle thing, but for once in his life that thought was not accompanied by the intense desire to somehow shoot it.

He stood fluidly to his feet, his eyes sweeping over his Guardians, sans Lussuria, who had already disappeared somewhere with a creepy smile, and growled in as close to a pleasant tone as he could get, "Any more problems with my Cloud, trash?" The shifty glances that were exchanged and the emotions flickering across his bonds with them were answer enough.

Xanxus gave a short nod, his grin sliding down to a sharp, dangerous smirk, "Good. Now get the h*** out and do your f****** jobs."

His Guardians murmured, or shouted in Squalo's case, their assent and scattered, leaving Xanxus to make his way back to his office with languid strides and a smug aura pouring off of him in waves.

.

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* * *

.

.

The rest of the plane trip, as well as the drive from the airport back to the castle, had been spent in silence. Mammon seemed too busy trying to piece her world back together and Skull was in no mood to soothe. She wasn't angry at Mammon … not really. Not anymore. Her anger at the Esper had faded years ago, right around the time she had simply given up on the Arcobaleno ever earning the right to see behind her masks.

But she was still greatly disappointed in the Mist and as such, felt something akin to vicious satisfaction at ripping the proverbial rug out from under the normally unflappable woman's feet. Skull's display of power at the manor, as well as the unspoken but acknowledged fact that the only reason Mammon was allowed to witness said display was because they had the same Sky now, not because Mammon had earned the right on her own, made the atmosphere too awkward to speak through.

Skull sat back as Silhouette coasted into her chosen corner of the Varia garage and turned off her engine. Her sister's kickstand snapped into position just as her canopy rolled back to let Skull out. Skull jumped down from Silhouette's alt mode and paused for a second as Silhouette murmured over their bond, _"They are all gathered in the foyer waiting for you. Be careful, Bright Spark."_

Skull tilted her helmeted head in silent acknowledgement as she strode for the door leading into the castle. Without prompting, Mammon floated up to the doorknob and opened the door for the tetchy Cloud. Purely out of habit, Skull dipped her head a fraction in thanks before heading inside.

Sky flames washed over her the moment she stepped into the large foyer and something tight in Skull's chest eased. Pulling her helmet off of her head, her gaze locked for several long seconds with Xanxus's before sweeping to examine the other Guardians. They seemed … different. Muted yet more vibrant and Skull braced herself for another round of unpleasantness. She wasn't sure what kind, but being treated poorly by others in the mafia was so on par the course for her life as Skull that she instinctively pulled her Mirrors up higher.

When they said nothing, only watched her with unreadable expressions, Skull forced her gaze back to Xanxus and automatically let Mirror #1 pull her lips up into a goofy grin, "Mission accomplished, Xanxus-sama! Not that there was ever any doubt as to the Great Skull-sama's capability to complete-"

Squalo bristled and thundered, "Voi! Cut the c***, Chibi! You can't expect us to swallow that s***** act after that demonstration you made!"

Skull faltered, so unaccustomed to people calling her out on her Mirrors that even if she logically knew they could now, it still stunned her. She reached for Mirror #2's personality defensively, but a strong pulse from Xanxus made her pause and refocus on him.

Xanxus watched her with hooded red eyes, "What about the other half of the mission, Chibi?" Everyone paused as they recalled that Skull's mission hadn't just been assassination. Skull smirked and pulled out a deceptively tiny flash-drive.

She tossed it to her Sky, "That should be everything. It's all the important parts anyway." Skull refrained from mentioning that the flash-drive had literally **everything** from the Pessolano network. Silhouette had been very disappointed with how lax the network security was, even compared to other human systems, and so had amused herself by ripping through every single firewall in the network and copying whatever lay within.

Xanxus rolled the flash-drive in his fingers for a moment before he pocketed it. His eyes flicked questioningly toward the garage, silently asking if Silhouette had been the hacker, to which Skull gave a brief nod of confirmation. Xanxus smirked, "Not bad, **Femme Fatale**. Not bad." A swell of pride and almost overwhelming smugness washed over her and Skull couldn't stop herself from showing off a bit.

Flashing quickly into the form of Mirror #2, she bowed deeply and purred, "But of course."

She straightened up and almost dropped Mirror #2, when a finger tentatively poked her arm. Skull looked down at Belphegor, who had seemed to teleport to her side and was now poking her roughly, his lips twisted in a way that conveyed puzzlement. Skull waited until the fifth poke before she drawled, "Yes?"

Belphegor stepped back and tilted his head to one side, "The Prince demands to know how you can make the illusion feel solid even when he knows that it is not real."

Skull shrugged, trying not to feel unnerved by current her lack of personality Mirrors to shield her as she answered, "Cloud Flames."

Belphegor hummed as he leaned over and poked her illusionary midriff again, "What else can you look like?"

Mischief, or perhaps petty revenge for two weeks of pranks, had Skull waiting until Belphegor was in mid-poke before she answered his question. Just as his finger dug into her illusionary skin, she threw up a Refractive Mirror and snarled in the deep voice of her Sky, "Trash."

Belphegor shot backwards like he'd been burned, instinct overriding logic for a moment as the perfectly mirrored appearance and annoyed voice of his Sky made him retreat for fear of getting shot at. He stopped after only a few feet and whirled to stare at the second Xanxus in the room in astonishment.

Xanxus didn't wait for the other Guardians to stop cursing in shock as he intoned, "Chibi." The unspoken command drifted across to Skull along with his hidden amusement and exasperation. Skull obediently dropped the Refractive Mirror, reverting to her true appearance.

An awkward silence fell as Skull waited to see if they needed to yell at her for anything and they tried to figure out what to say. Squalo appeared to be gearing up for a loud barrage of questions when Lussuria interjected, "Well then. Since Xanxus apparently doesn't need a debriefing, I'll need you to come with me, Skull-kun~."

Skull shifted, internally reaching for her Mirrors again, "Oh?"

Lussuria leveled a dazzling smile at her that had no real affect, "After-mission check-up, darling~, everyone in the Varia get's them."

Mirror #1 snapped up so fast she could have almost heard it click, "The Great Skull-sama is fine! As if such incompetents could lay a scratch on me!"

Lussuria was suddenly at her side, gently but firmly shooing her toward the stairs, "None of that, Skull-kun, you need a checkup. Oh, and I'll need to know where you went to get your checkups previously, I'll need to look over your medical records later, after all~."

Skull carefully ignored the part about Lussuria wanting her, non-existent, medical records and glanced over at Xanxus. Xanxus flicked his fingers in a motion that indicated it was fine and to go along with Lussuria, so she reluctantly put up with his herding.

She was not entirely sure why all the others felt the need to follow them though. Maybe it was because they had yet to say their piece. Or maybe they had questions. Or maybe this was just yet another test they'd made up to see if she was Varia Quality.

"-Skull-kun?" Lussuria's voice broke through her thoughts.

Skull tilted her head to look up at the Varia Sun, "My apologies, could you repeat that?"

Lussuria tilted his head, "I asked who your previous primary physician was. Someone on Mafia Land? Or perhaps a private physician in America?"

Skull's first instinct was to lie, but she knew that was pointless and counterproductive so she reluctantly said, "No and no."

"Then where did you go for checkups, Skull-kun?"

Skull's prolonged silence must have been telling because Lussuria stopped in the hallway, stared down at her sternly through his glasses and said, "You **did** have regular checkups over the many years of your career, didn't you?"

She debated what to say before she settled for a grudging, "I'm my own medic."

She half-expected Lussuria to scold her or shout or something to that order. Instead, the Sun slapped his forehead and sighed with a tone of extreme long-suffering, "Not another one … I thought I was through with this after I had that talk with Squalo."

Belphegor snickered while Squalo bristled, "Voi! The h*** are you implying? At least I don't pull the s*** Bel does to get out of it!"

Belphegor stopped snickering and folded his arms over his chest, "…The Prince does not get **sick**. So there is no point in checkups."

Levi glowered down at an increasingly bemused Skull, "Boss ordered that everyone gets medical checkups after missions. You had better not follow Belphegor's or Squalo's bad habits of insubordination to Boss. Just because you completed one Varia mission does not give you free-"

Squalo interrupted, his sword hand swinging dangerously close to Levi as he roared, "Voi! What the f*** are you talking about? I am not insubordinate! I'm the f****** second in command! I'm too busy to get poked by Lussuria all the d*** time!"

A hand lightly nudged Skull's back, almost startling her, and she looked up inquiringly at the crouched Lussuria. He wordlessly motioned to his shoulder and, after a moment of staring at him skeptically, she accepted his silent offer for a ride and jumped aboard. Lussuria stood up smoothly as Skull settled into a sitting position and idly grabbed his shirt collar for support as the Varia Sun resumed his trek through the halls.

Somehow, without seeming to acknowledge Lussuria's departure, the others followed along behind, still arguing at increasingly painful volumes and with a multiplying number of curses. Skull stared at them with a blank expression, trying to understand their behavior. At a glance, it looked no different than from when she had first arrived. But she had spent years surviving solely because of her ability to read people and their subtle nuances in expression and manner and she could tell that something was different now.

It disturbed her a bit that she could not pinpoint how their demeanor had changed. The volume hadn't changed, the insults and curses hadn't changed. She tilted her head to one side automatically even as Lussuria danced aside so that Belphegor's knives went harmlessly past and mused that the level of violence hadn't changed.

But there was still something **different**. Almost a change in the atmosphere. A … a feeling she couldn't pinpoint even as she studied them for several minutes on end. A low chuckle vibrated through her perch and Lussuria whispered, "Oh, Skull-kun, I forgot to tell you something when you came in."

Skull hummed and glanced at him in acknowledgement and Lussuria smirked as he murmured, " _Bentornata a casa_."

Lussuria turned his attention back to where he was going without another word, leaving Skull to blink in bafflement at the realization that settled on her. _Oh. That's what's changed._ The subtle aggression toward her, the ever-present hostility that had underlaid the Varia Guardians' interactions while she was around was … gone. For the most part anyway. She was still detecting faint traces of it from Levi, but on the whole the aura of the castle and its top occupants was … warmer now.

Another knife flew past and the sound of Squalo's sword cutting through the banister heralded Mammon's dry declaration that all non-mission related damages would be repaired using the paycheck of the perpetrator. Which of course kicked the violence up several notches as they began to argue over who was at fault for said damages in the first place.

Skull amended her previous thought. _It is warmer now … in a homicidal sort of way._ Strangely, Skull found she already wouldn't have it any other way.

Lussuria cut into the argument with playful exasperation as he stopped outside a door labeled, "medical wing", "Boys~, is there any particular **reason** you're following us?"

The wall-shaking argument ground to a halt as the other Guardians looked at each other in something that would have been sheepishness if it had been on the faces of anyone other than top-ranking assassins. Finally, Levi crossed his arms and answered with a blunt, "We needed to have a question answered about Skull."

Skull kept her shoulders from going tense even as she braced for the worst, "What?"

Squalo ran a hand through part of his hair as he roared in exasperation, "Voi! Are you a guy or a woman? Cause I ain't letting a **Cloud** who can f****** throw people through four or more f****** walls sleep down the hall from me if you get 'times of the month'!"

Skull couldn't stop the short bark of laughter that escaped her at Squalo's wording and the way Levi and Belphegor nodded their heads in emphatic agreement, "I'll sleep down in the garage with my bike then."

Belphegor stopped nodding and tilted his head, "Then you **are** a female?"

Skull debated playing coy and dodging the question. But then she recalled all the times Belphegor had broken into her room because he wanted to and decided not to risk the mental trauma and property damage that would arise from him ambushing her in the shower or something.

Skull shrugged, "Yes."

Levi and Belphegor miraculously seemed to become a foot or so farther away from her in the blink of an eye. Squalo looked like he was considering following their example while Mammon just snorted at her fellow Guardians. Skull rolled her eyes expressively, "No, it isn't that time. Already done for the month."

All males in the nearby vicinity, minus Lussuria who was trying valiantly not to crack a rib from muffled laughter, relaxed a fraction. Skull shook her head at them, _men. You would think Varia Officers wouldn't flinch at this stuff._ Her amusement must have leaked over to Xanxus because her Sky sent a mildly amused pulse back. Whatever he was picking up from the other Elements must have been pretty interesting to garner that reaction.

Lussuria shooed the other Guardians away at last and took Skull into the medical wing, lecturing her the entire time once he finally got her to admit that she hadn't had a basic medical checkup in around two decades. She decided not to tell him that she had technically hadn't had a medical checkup since her father had died. Silhouette had always just scanned her for signs of disease or illness and her Cloud flames had boosted her immune system to the point where going to a doctor was just … never necessary.

That and she hated the sights and smells of hospitals, lab coats, and medical people in general. Getting partially dissected as a young teen kinda put a damper on the civilian-esque assumption that "hospitals" or "doctors" meant "healing" and "helpful".

She protested Lussuria's fussing at first, but quickly gave up when the Sun steamrolled over her protests with the expertise of someone who had been wrestling cranky psychopaths into submission for years. Finally, after grudgingly allowing herself to be poked, prodded, questioned, scolded, and sacrificed to the vampire that was medical blood tests, Skull questioned softly, "How come you didn't do all this when I first got here?"

Lussuria didn't even pause as he fluttered around the room doing … who knew what that was somehow vital to the medical checkup, "Because you weren't part of the family darling~. Not officially anyway. But that display you gave earlier on your mission~… ooh, you're going to fit right in now!"

"You refer to the Varia, a collection of crazy assassin psychopaths with blood, knife, sword, and money fetishes, not to mention a raging Lightning fanboy … as family." Skull kept her voice intentionally deadpan, testing one last time to see just what she was getting herself into.

Lussuria somehow gave her an innocent look from behind his glasses, "But of course~! What else would I call them?"

Something about Lussuria's tone, about the warmth of his Sun flames as they filled the room and added to the imprint of warmth-healing-sunshine-protection already present in the walls, made the last tiny knot in Skull's chest unwind. She gave him tiny smile, a real one this time, not one from her mirrors and put up with the resulting declarations of " _kawai_!" with patience she hadn't known she possessed.

Funny, while she wasn't ready to tell them everything about herself, especially not about Silhouette, a little part of her was already contentedly purring _"mine"_ as Lussuria finally let her get off of the medical bed and escorted her out of the room. _I guess they are, aren't they? Elements of the same Sky…_ Skull kept the laugh that bubbled in her throat safely tucked away as she realized, _I am the "weakest, ex-civilian lackey of the Arcobaleno" and I just claimed, and was claimed in return, by the_ ** _Varia_** _. If that doesn't beat all other ironies._

"Oh, Skull-chan?" She looked up at Lussuria and the larger man held a finger to his lips, "Don't mention the 'family' thing to the others, okay? They get so touchy about open sentiment. They think it will damage their reputation or something~."

Skull chortled, "The secret is safe with me, Lussuria-san."

He tapped her lightly on the head, "That's 'Luss', 'Luss- _nee_ ' or ' _sorella_ ' to you, Skull-chan."

Skull slapped his hand away as she followed him down to the living room where she could hear Belphegor and Squalo getting into yet another fight, " _Hai_ , _hai_ … Luss _-nee_."

Skull arrived in the living room patiently suffering the indignity of being carried by Lussuria as he squealed about her "cuteness". Belphegor proceeded to laugh at her.

He stopped laughing when she calmly threatened to pick him up and throw him through the television like a human javelin.

Of course, this prompted her inclusion in her first ever Varia Guardian Brawl. Which in turn led to her first time fleeing from an irate Xanxus armed with wine glasses and a half-full bottle. Which in turn led to her baffling the Varia en-masse with her extensive repertoire of Cybertronian curses. Which, finally, led to her sitting on the central living room couch with the Varia sprawled around her, trying to teach them the intricacies of a language meant for metal vocalizers and not squishy vocal cords.

All in all, by the end of the month, Lussuria's prediction had come true and she had filled the hole none of the Varia had really been aware was there in their group dynamics. By the end of three years, Xanxus's Element set had stabilized enough to form inter-Element bonds and Skull was settled in a home far better than she had ever known.

Then one day a famiglia named Millefiore turned Vongola HQ to cinders and forced Skull to watch as her world burned to the ground shortly thereafter.

But that is a story for another time.

* * *

 **Rough Translations: Eto - Expression of uncertainty. Japanese version of "um".**

 **Gomenasai - "My apologies" in Japanese.**

 **Hai - "Yes" in Japanese.**

 **Luss-nee - "Big Sis Luss" in Japanese.**

 **Kawai - "Cute" in Japanese.**

 **Sorella - "Big Sister" in Italian (I think).**

 **Bentornata a casa - "Welcome Home" in Italian (I think).**


	5. Fifth Stanza: What Never Was

**Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter, because I started editing this 79 page monstrosity this morning and it is now late afternoon my time. I really wish there was a middle stage between writer's-block and can't-shut-up-for-anything with my muses, I really do. Anyway! I'll be putting the translations up here because at the bottom of the chapter are explanations for things that might confuse you guys. Just a heads up there.**

 **Review Response: Youko Artemis, hey there! So glad you liked it! I really love writing BadAft!Skull, so hopefully she'll be making a return appearance soon. Oh, I'll cover the Arcobaleno getting their world turned upside down eventually, I promise. Just got to get through another thing or two first. Well if that's the case, hopefully you'll like the fluff of the newest chapter too!**

 **Dear Bookmeister999, greetings! (Bows) Thank you, thank you, I tried. Enjoy the update!**

 **Dear StepOnLego14, hello there! Wish granted, here's a (monster) update!**

 **Dear May Eve,** **aloha! (Cocks head) You're welcome, I'm glad it satisfied you that much!**

 **Dear Guest, hi there! Aw, thank you! I'm glad you enjoy it so much. I agree with you on Skull being an awesome character, really deserves all the screen-time he/she can get.**

 **Dear Draxsis Felhunter, hi! I'm glad you liked it! Don't worry, the girls are just messing with the boys' heads. See, you and I know what the Arcobaleno Curse entails, but as far as most of the Varia know, the girls are just shrunken adults physically as well as mentally. I mean, except for Reborn and maybe Skull, their voices do NOT sound like two-year-olds. Anyway, Mammon sees it as potentially useful and so has never bothered to correct their assumptions, and Skull enjoys actively messing with people, so that's why that's in there. Lussuria, being the Varia medic, knows the truth of the matter, but he finds the entire thing hysterical and so keeps quiet about it. I hope that all makes sense?**

 **Dear Guest, hello! As you can see, I am continuing this collection. It just ... takes me a while to finish chapters and then edit them is all. I'm hoping to cover the Arcobaleno's reactions soon. As for more Autobots, they'll show up eventually, but it will take a while. I need to work through some stuff on the KHR side of things and keep working on AMoSC and AUW, but like I said, we should see more Autobots (or Decepticons!) trickle in eventually.**

 **Dear buterflypuss, greetings! Glad you think so! Hopefully this update will be just as interesting!**

 **Author's Note: So, first off, I would like to go on record as having had NO control over this chapter. Well, I had control over the first two paragraphs. Then the muses ran off with it and I was left trying to write down all their babble in a coherent structure. Secondly, this gets a possible violence/gore warning (It's the VARIA after all) but I don't think it's too bad, a censored swear-words warning (again, Varia, curses are a must), and finally a fluff warning (don't ask me how that happened, it just ... did). Also, for those of you who skipped the little notice on the top of the page, there will be more in-depth explanations of a few things at the bottom of the chapter. Now, on to the chapter! Enjoy!**

 **Translations: Mamman - French for Mama (according to Google.)**

 **Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own KHR, Transformers, or any references made in this story. The only things I own are my OCs and my interpretation of Skull (as adopted from wolfsrainrules), who have collectively run off with my plot.**

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 **Fifth Stanza: What Never Was**

 **Year: 2004. Season: Late Summer/Early Fall. Country: Italy. Age: Cursed**

Xanxus lounged back in his chair, dark wine swirling in his glass as he watched his Guardians make fools of themselves in the monthly Varia Drinking game. This time around was a very … hardcore version of truth or dare. Xanxus was the undisputed, if unofficial, judge of the crazy game, but preferred being the amused spectator.

Belphegor sneered triumphantly at Squalo as he completed Squalo's dare to perform a certain complicated knife-trick while balanced on only one hand. Tilting his head to one side as he flopped back into his chair, Belphegor cooed, "Do try to **challenge** the Prince next time, Shark Peasant."

Squalo swore under his breath as he was forced to take a drink as per the rules of the game. It was the … seventeenth round if Xanxus recalled correctly, so most of the participants were feeling a the effects of their drinks by now. Well, except for Mammon, who refused to drink anything more intoxicating than her precious strawberry milk, and Belphegor who Xanxus suspected was using his Storm Flames to burn the alcohol out of his system before it could affect him.

Levi, the next in line to pick a truth-or-dare victim, stood up, "Alright-" _"Who f****** stole my umbrellas? Bel, you s***** brat, you'd better not have used them for your pranks again!"_

Xanxus blinked, _wait. That isn't part of the game. What the h*** is he talking about-_ He blinked again and the room shifted. Suddenly there was a fire in the hearth, Belphegor was perched on the back of the couch instead of sitting in a chair, openly sniggering at the howling Levi while Lussuria tried to hold back his laughter and Squalo tried to shout everyone into order.

There was a low laugh and a light weight in his lap and Xanxus looked down sharply at the unknown stranger who **dared** \- _No, not stranger, Chibi-Skull-yours-_

Xanxus was dimly aware he had dropped his wine glass as a sharp sting began to form in the back of his head. He tried to stand up, unholster his guns and demand an explanation as to what was going on and why Skull De Mort was suddenly here when the world shifted again.

 _._

 _._

 _Varia reflexes had him leaping to one side just in time to avoid an actual collision, his mouth opening to viciously curse whoever was stupid enough to almost run him over._ ** _Him_** _, Xanxus of the Varia, when his Sky flames jerked forward without his conscious consent and even though the bike had already disappeared around the street corner, Xanxus felt a strong, answering pull._

 _Xanxus would never, ever admit to standing there stupidly for a full three seconds with his mouth hanging slightly open and his flames singing_ mine-mine-mine-Cloud-Cloud-mine _under his skin before he managed to shake free of his daze and launch into action._

 _._

 _._

 _The custom mystery bike sat perpendicular to his position almost fifty yards away, its black paint with rich violet flames glinting in the afternoon sunlight. Xanxus froze for a second, wondering why the rider had chosen to finally stop. For a long moment, nothing happened, an air of expectancy hovering in the space between them._

 _Cautiously climbing to his feet, Xanxus flared his Sky flames, reaching inquisitively for the pulsing, rolling Cloud flames he could sense from the other rider. Sky brushed against Cloud and there was a brief rush of strong-wild-free-untamed as the Cloud flames flared in response to the touch._

 _Xanxus immediately pulled back his Flames, not_ ** _really_** _wanting to set off a Cloudy Rage no matter how frustrated and furious he personally was. The standoff lasted for another minute, with both parties examining how their Flames pulled and called to the other with no conscious decision of the persons in question._

 _Then the mystery motorcycle's engine revved and it sped off down the highway without a word. Xanxus cursed breathlessly as frustration seethed through his veins._

.

.

Cloud. He'd found a Cloud that actually Called him and that he Called in return. He'd chased the Cloud- _Not just a Cloud. Skull. Skull De Mort. Skull De Mort_ _who-_

 _._

 _._

 _Blood in the air. The thick, sluggish pull of drugs and Rain flames in his system, smothering him despite his Storm flames' steady burn. He was being carried. By whom? There were Cloud flames all around him, thick and enraged yet somehow safe. Enemies everywhere, yet falling dead to the floor within moments of Xanxus becoming aware of them. A towering stranger, Flames that felt foreign, and glowing red eyes in a large metal face._

 _._

 _._

 _Xanxus held out a hand, not attempting to touch, just letting it hang in the air patiently as he asked with uncharacteristic quiet, "Would you agree to being one of mine as well?"_

 _._

 _._

 _Xanxus felt the last piece, his missing Element, finally click into place and something deep inside him relaxed. It was like a muscle he had never known existed had been taut and knotting, driving him to distraction without his conscious knowledge until it finally came undone and his instincts_ ** _purred_** _._

 _Skull was his now. His and no one else's forevermore. Skull's flames tugged desperately on the bond as a tear slid slowly down the Arcobaleno's cheek, hungry for the feeling of Home and Belonging at last. Xanxus obliged immediately, flaring his Sky flames until heat waves rippled through the room. His Flames wrapped around his new Guardian without hesitation, supplying the feeling of Home and Harmony in as great a strength as Skull desired even as he resisted the urge to laugh with glee._

 _The World's Strongest Cloud. Not just that, but a powerful Mist as well, one who showed signs of having freely mixed his primary Cloud with his secondary Mist in order to boost it to otherwise unattainable levels. A Misty Cloud, arguably the rarest of all flame combinations, and he was Xanxus's now._

.

.

Xanxus's hands flew up to his temples with a dark snarl as the sting in his head grew stronger and the impressions -memories- began to come faster. Images flashed before his eyes, dragging him back and forth from place to place, situation to situation. The memories hammered into his head with the subtly of an earthquake, so thick and fast he could no longer perceive them in chronological order, couldn't think past the rush of years of his life that he had lived yet not.

 _._

 _._

 _Belphegor being a brat and inadvertently discovering Silhouette._

 _._

 _._

 _Skull proving herself to the other Guardians, proving herself not just the World's Strongest Cloud but Femme Fatale as well and dangerous enough to stand as their equals under a shared Sky._

 _._

 _._

 _Learning Cybertronian from Skull and then later Silhouette. Getting laughed at for sounding like little kids with lisps despite their best efforts to wrap their vocal cords around the harsh metallic tones of an alien language._

 _._

 _._

 _Vongola HQ burning to the ground in an unseen, unprovoked attack._

 _._

 _._

 _His Elements bonding, synching together until they were bonded to each other as much as they were bonded through Xanxus himself._

 _._

 _._

 _Poison in the air. Poison that only affected the Arcobaleno. Affected only two members of_ ** _his Pride_** _with no cure._

 _._

 _._

 _The final battle against the Six Funeral Wreaths, the battle in which Xanxus and the Varia had Raged with enough force to turn the battlefield to glass and ash because this was their revenge for their fallen. Their revenge for their own who were no longer with them, who were nothing but memories and gaping nothingness over shattered bonds because Byakuran had dared to_ ** _take what was theirs_** _._

 _._

 _._

 _Losing Mammon. The agony and rage of feeling her life finally slip away, taken from him by the poison from which she had refused to hide. Skull screaming and Raging at her fellow Arcobaleno's recklessness, selfishness, because leaving on a mission without the purifying helmet Skull had built specifically for Mammon to slow the affects of the poison was suicide in all but name. The fear he had held, hidden away in the depths of his soul, that he would lose Skull that day as well to her Rage._

 _._

 _._

 _Silhouette pulling Skull back from the brink, focusing Skull's pain at losing part of her Territory into missions against the Millefiore Famiglia. But even the stubbornness of a Raging Cloud could not stop the slow, relentless march of the poison through her system. Could not stop the bloody coughing fits that persisted over the next two years._

 _._

 _._

 _Fran. The brilliant, annoying brat Mukuro had dumped on their doorstep to take care of while he disappeared to who knew where. The one that Skull had taken under her wing and trained into the ground again, and again, and again because she was not going to lose another one of her own. Not again. Never again._

 _He had Harmonized with Fran, just before the end. Accepted the juvenile Mist as his own because he was already one of Skull's and his Cloud was a good judge of character. Xanxus had helped Skull train Fran when he had the time, the two of them working together to ensure that Fran could not only make an enemy think that up was left, but could hold his own in physical combat as well._

.

.

For a moment, the surge of memories paused, as if hesitating to show whatever was left. Xanxus growled past the agony in his throbbing, overstuffed head. He wanted this to be over with. There were pieces he was missing, pieces he needed to know. He already knew the War had ended, that Little Trash from the past- present-? had burned the b****** Byakuran to ash. That the little Sky, Yuni, had done something to save the timelines. He recalled the final battle in mind-numbing detail, as if he had just lived it and was not simply being bombarded with memories of a Future That Never Was.

But Skull had not been there in the end. His stubborn Cloud had been lost, gone, **taken** by Byakuran somehow and Xanxus didn't have the memory of how. What had happened to his own? What had happened to his Cloud? _Show me!_ He mentally roared at whatever presence it was that was pushing future-past-alternate memories into his head.

The presence obeyed and Xanxus was pulled under again.

 _._

 _._

 _They were all crowded around the briefing table, arguing and debating about what to do with the newest piece of intel their spies had picked up. Silhouette was on a supply run for the energon she needed, and had insisted that Skull stay behind to help plan out the latest mission against the Millefiore._

 _Skull had agreed, but only after Xanxus had thrown his weight around and backed Silhouette up on her demand. Purifiers similar to the one in Skull's helmet had been installed all over the castle, working to filter away the poison that only affected their Cloud and slow down the degradation of her health. Because of that, all of the Varia did their best to keep Skull inside the castle unless her strength and skill was an absolute must for a mission._

 _Belphegor was in the middle of suggesting a strategy when it happened. Skull went rigid on the table, sick, raw fear pulsing across the bonds she had with Xanxus and the others. Xanxus stood up instantly, eyes flitting around the room for signs of a threat, his pistols in his hands and he murmured, "Skull?"_

 _For a moment, nothing moved. Skull didn't even seem to be breathing. Then a keening noise escaped her and Skull had launched herself out of the third story window._

 _They had all gone after her without even thinking about it. Chased her across the grounds, weapons out and ready to intercept a threat as she pounded her way wildly across the grass in her Mist-created adult form._

 _Feelings of terror, despair, and denial throbbed across his bond with Skull and Xanxus felt his Flames rising in response to the distress of his Cloud even though he couldn't pinpoint the source._

 _Then, halfway across the sprawling grounds, Skull jerked. Her body arched and fell as if she'd been shot, her legs going out from under her as she screamed Silhouette's name._

 _Xanxus would never forget that scream. A wild, animalistic noise that echoed for miles and contained nothing but despair and grief. It was like listening to a wild creature die an agonizing death, only much, much worse because Xanxus could_ ** _feel_** _the emotions behind the cry, feel them echoing across his bond with Skull as she curled up on the ground in her true form and just kept screaming._

 _Xanxus slid to a stop next to his Cloud and dropped into a protective crouch over her form. All around them, his other Guardians fanned out into a defensive formation, their flames physically licking at their clothes and skin with the intensity of their emotions. Holstering one pistol, Xanxus gripped Skull's tiny shoulder with a hand and pumped Sky Flames into her, trying to anchor his screaming Cloud._

 _He could feel the moment he failed._

 _Skull's screaming stopped as abruptly as it had started, her body shuddering with gasps as her Flames began to twist and warp in ways they were never meant to. Something invisible squeezed at Xanxus's throat as he felt Skull burrow into his Flames for a moment, relishing in the feeling of home one last time while sending him feelings of_ so-sorry-can't-take-it-anymore-must-leave-must- **rage** _before she pulled way and slammed her end of their bond tightly shut._

 _Skull stood up and pulled off her helmet. No one spoke, no one tried to stop her, not even Lussuria. Purple eyes met their gazes one by one, conveying everything she needed them to know with her gaze alone before her eyes locked with Xanxus's one last time. Her eyes were glowing a bright, sickly purple, pulsing rapidly as if to her heartbeat as she whispered hoarsely, "I have to go."_

 _Skull didn't mean simply leaving the castle. She meant to die. She had been dying anyway. A slow, unnatural death no Cloud should have to suffer through while her fellow Arcobaleno, pieces of her Territory, fell one by one despite her best efforts. Xanxus had always known that Skull only held on because she was the only thing Silhouette had left._

 _Now Silhouette was gone, and d*** him if his Cloud didn't follow that stupid bike everywhere._

 _Xanxus thought about saying a lot of things, but in the end, the only words to leave his mouth were, "Give them Pit, Chibi."_

 _Skull gave a single, curt nod and then was gone, racing to the garage for a non-sentient bike and from there tearing down the road toward Millefiore headquarters. Fran twitched and made as if to follow her, but Xanxus pushed him back, "Don't."_

 _Fran's apathetic facade fractured, "But she's our Cloud! We should Rage with her!"_

 _Squalo was uncharacteristically quiet as he interrupted Fran, "That's a one-way trip and you know it, kid. By the time she's done, there won't be anything left alive within a fifty mile radius."_ Not even Skull herself _was a heavy, bitter understanding that went acknowledged but unspoken among them all._

 _The Varia waited for an hour before they moved out. Taking a different route to the city surrounding Millefiore headquarters, they stood on a high ridge overlooking the city as they watched the Shattering of their Cloud in silence._

 _Even from a distance, the destruction was awe-inspiring. Cloud Flames smothered the air while Mist whispered through their senses like poison. Buildings shook and fell, explosions pounded their eardrums, and people screamed._

 _Gunfire chattered, the howls of box animals rose like war cries before turning to wails of agony and cutting off abruptly. Even through the block on Skull's end of the bond, Xanxus could feel when someone shot her. He could feel the spike of raw Cloud Flames and heard the shouts of disbelief that heralded her getting up again._

 _More gunshots, the cry of a massive box animal, another spike of Cloud Flames._

 _Xanxus felt his own Flames lick his skin, felt the Flames of his other Guardians rising with each spike of Cloud Flames that heralded her getting up again after blows that should have been fatal._

 _Three spikes._

 _Four spikes._

 _Seven._

 _There was a pause, then Skull's Flames, both of them, lunged to even greater heights and Sky Flames lit the air like a wordless shriek of agony. Despite himself, Xanxus felt his lips peel into a feral smile. Skull had reached Byakuran._

 _The Sky Flames twisted and struggled against Cloud and Mist in a display so powerful it was visible to the naked eye and beside him Squalo snarled in satisfaction despite the ending they all knew was coming._

 _Then, without warning or time to brace himself for it, Xanxus's bond with Skull shattered and an explosion of Flames turned five city blocks in any direction into ash and fractured every other building in the city._

 _Xanxus roared at the feeling of losing Skull, red hazing his vision as he fought his instincts to go down there and Rage._

 _But this was not the time. He would avenge his Cloud later, in a place where the Flame fallout from Skull's death would not disintegrate the lungs of anyone foolish enough to enter the scene of the aftermath with its sheer potency. Even from their place on the hilltop, miles from the fallout area, Xanxus could already feel his lungs tingling from the burning air._

 _It was Lussuria who broke rank first and herded them all back to the castle, away from the irradiated air of the city and its surrounding area._

 _Xanxus bottled up his rage over the incident, over Skull's death. Pushed it into the same dark hole in his mind that he had pushed his pain over losing Mammon two years ago. His Guardians followed his lead, storing it away, saving it until the time came to turn the Millefiore to ash._

 _It wasn't until the final battle against the real Six Funeral Wreaths came a mere three months later that Xanxus and his remaining Guardians unleashed their pent-up fury over the loss of their own and the world trembled under the force of it._

.

.

Xanxus came back to himself after the last memory had finished burning itself into his mind to find himself on his knees where his chair had been. All of the furniture in the room had been incinerated under the force of his Flames and that of his Guardians as they were made to live through ten years of a life that no longer existed. Could not be allowed to exist again. Xanxus's head pounded, his throat throbbed like he'd swallowed glass, and he wondered dimly if he had been shouting during the onslaught of memories.

Straightening up slowly from his doubled over position, Xanxus met the gaze of his equally dazed Guardians. Levi was the first to break the heavy silence, his voice hoarse, "What. The h***. Was that?"

Xanxus started to say something, probably a curse, when his phone rang shrilly. Yanking it out of his pocket with a breathless snarl, he looked at the screen. For a split second, he thought the number was unfamiliar and was going to ignore the call, but then knowledge from the not-future zipped to the forefront of his mind and he found himself answered it automatically.

A low feminine voice with vaguely metallic undertones panted desperately, " **Tell me** you recognize this number."

"Silhouette," Xanxus rasped past his throbbing throat, _You're alive. I shouldn't know you exist. You really exist, which means that-_ "Where is Skull?" The moment the name left his lips he became aware of the gaping hole inside. The disturbing, maddening lack of a bond that should have been there. Even shattered, there should have been a piece left, a scar on his Flames from a lost Harmonization. But there was nothing, not even a trace and somehow that was **worse**.

Silhouette sighed of relief, "Alive. But you need to get over here as soon as possible. Skull … Skull isn't stable."

Xanxus was already halfway out the door, his Elements flanking him, before she had finished with the first sentence. "Put her on the line," he barked.

There was a pause, "I'm going to have to put it on speaker, I can't risk handing her the phone right now." Xanxus subconsciously bristled at that, but he refrained from commenting. There was a muffled collection of sounds from Silhouette's end and then a click of a phone getting put on speaker. The instant it was, Xanxus became aware of the crashing and feral snarling sounds on the other end and his newfound memories prodded him with realization. _Right. Chibi throws things when she's p*****._ Still, just from listening, Xanxus could tell that this was not one of her normal Cloudy tantrums. The level of destruction he was hearing was enormous.

He raised his voice to be heard over the destruction as he took the stairs down to the garage two at a time, " **Chibi**!"

There was a pause in the noise, then the sounds of broken debris being kicked aside in Skull's scramble to get to the phone, "Xanxus?"

His Cloud sounded horrible. Her voice was undisguised and raw, like she'd been screaming for hours, and there was a desperate edge to it that made him want to shoot whatever it was driving Skull to such extremes. Pushing away his violent urges for the moment, Xanxus answered, "It's me, Chibi. Now where are you?"

There was a long silence on the other end before Silhouette answered on Skull's behalf, "America. Usual place."

Xanxus nodded even though Skull couldn't see it, "We'll be there in twelve hours."

"…We?" Skull sounded … vulnerable. Xanxus hated it. He hated that one of his Elements was separated from him. Even if Skull wasn't technically his yet, wouldn't have become his until four years later, the part of him that had lived ten years longer than the current date was railing against his current inability to do more than just talk to Skull over the phone.

His other Elements didn't even need prompting to scramble into the car, ignoring the frightened grunts who had no idea what had happened to cause the earthquake and then the huge flare of Flames they'd sensed earlier. Levi claimed the driver's seat and Xanxus slid automatically into the passenger's side next to his Lightning, "Yeah, we're all coming, Chibi, so f****** get your house ready for guests."

"…Mammon is there?"

Xanxus huffed through his nose and put his phone on speaker. Holding it up so that it was facing the back of the vehicle where Squalo, Lussuria, Belphegor, and Mammon were shuffling into place, he barked, "Everyone, sound off!"

Squalo looked up from where he was shoving Belphegor out of one particular seat, " **Voi**! The both of you had better be in one piece you f****** pieces of slag!"

Belphegor took the opportunity to shove Squalo back while snapping in a loud voice, "The Prince demands his choice of the seats!"

Levi growled as he started up the customized SUV, "Stop fighting back there, you'll disturb the Boss!"

Lussuria snatched the phone from Xanxus's grasp and cradled it as if it was Skull herself, "You'd better not have cut yourself throwing things again Skull-chan~! You're already in for a **very** thorough checkup! You too Silhouette, don't think I've forgotten about you~!"

Mammon floated near the ceiling of the SUV, trying to stay out of the miniature war-zone that was the back seats, "Any and all repairs of your safe-house are coming out of your paycheck, Skull."

Skull gave a hoarse, slightly disbelieving laugh and Xanxus snatched his phone back from Lussuria with a low snarl. Turning the speaker function off, Xanxus held it to his ear again, "Don't do anything stupid, Chibi, just **stay put** until we get there. Understood?"

"Understood, Boss." Xanxus huffed at the sheer relief in Skull's tone before they exchanged quick goodbyes and he hung up. Xanxus settled back in his seat as Levi ignored various traffic laws to get them to the Varia's private jet as soon as possible. He would never admit to being just as relieved to hear Skull's voice as Skull had been to hear his.

Now, if they could just get to Skull's safe-house in time to prevent anymore breakdowns from his Cloud, then the day might be considered salvageable.

 **.**

 **.**

* * *

 **.**

 **.**

Skull curled up in Silhouette's palm, all of the animalistic rage and pain that had overwhelmed her a few minutes ago drained away by the sound of her Sky and fellow Elements. They were really hers, she really had a Sky and a home. They were coming for her.

Which also meant that Mammon had really died. That Colonello had sacrificed himself so that Mammon could deliver the needed intel. That Verde had been run to ground by the Millefiore and killed with his own inventions. That Fon had Shattered for reasons unknown even to Skull, taking out more than half of the Millefiore's forces in China before he died. That Reborn had gone down with his guns blazing, choosing to meet his death with as much unwilling company as possible rather than let the poison slowly wear his life away.

It meant that Silhouette had **died**.

Skull shuddered as the memory of feeling Silhouette offline washed over her again, triggering thoughts on what had followed.

 _._

 _._

 _It was the surprise and pain that had first alerted Skull, first told her that something had gone wrong on Silhouette's mission. She hadn't known what to do other than wait it out. Silhouette was strong and skilled, surely she could handle it-_

 _But then the pain had bloomed into something much more agonizing and Silhouette had pressed as much love and apology as she could through their bond before closing it and Skull was running. Even though a part of her knew it was pointless, Skull had run as fast as she could, mentally throwing herself at the block in the bond and screaming internally for Silhouette to open it again, to explain, to_ ** _be okay_** _._

 _Perhaps if Skull hadn't succeeded in breaking through the bond block, she wouldn't have Shattered because of Silhouette's death. If she hadn't been strong enough to bypass Silhouette's last attempt to protect her, Skull wouldn't have had to feel, intimately, the Storm flames carving into Silhouette's frame._

 _She wouldn't have been able to see, for just a moment, through Silhouette's optics as six Millefiore White Spell squads tried to bring her down with the intent of using her. The intent of taking her apart and using the knowledge gleaned from Silhouette's frame against the Vongola. Against Silhouette's family._

 _Skull wouldn't have seen how Silhouette was losing the fight. How Silhouette was low on energon and how the Millefiore had come prepared to take down a lone Cybertronian without damaging her too badly for research. How there was no way for Silhouette to escape the situation alive._

 _Silhouette had sensed Skull overriding the bond block, sensed how Skull was, for a moment, seeing through Silhouette's optics and feeling through her frame. There was another rush of affection, a whispered,_ "I'm sorry, my Bright Spark. I'm so sorry." _Then Silhouette had pulled out all three of her last cybertronian plasma grenades, clutched them tight to her own chest, and detonated them to prevent the Millefiore from ever using her, or her frame, against those she had claimed as her own._

 _The pain of Silhouette's death, the aching cold and void where there had once been constant warmth and life knocked Skull's legs out from under her. Skull had screamed at the sheer level of agony that ripped into her core, into her very Flames. On some dim level, she had been aware of Xanxus hovering over her, pushing Sky flames into her in a desperate attempt to keep her stable._

 _But all Skull could think about was how so many of her own were gone. Mammon, her fellow Element, her fellow Mist, her fellow Varia. Reborn and Fon and all the other Arcobaleno that had always treated her like dirt yet had been_ ** _hers_** _all the same. Her sister who had raised her and taught her so much and kept her grounded when no one else could._

 _But they were dead. They were_ gone-gone-gone-gone _and Skull was suddenly so_ ** _cold_** _and so much of her Territory had been taken from her and-_

 _And it was all Byakuran's fault._

 _Skull had stopped screaming as realization hit her. Her flames had shifted, warped, and turned dangerously brittle as she realized that she was going to die. She was going to die either way but by the AllSpark she was going to_ ** _take Byakuran with her_** _for what he had done._

 _Her goodbyes had been short, they knew what was going through her mind even without her saying it. She had buried herself in Xanxus Sky flames one last time, apologized to her Sky for being unable to stay, unable to change her mind on what she was about to do, and then left for Millefiore headquarters._

.

.

The drive there had taken several hours, but somehow Skull could not recall it. All she could remember was the steady build of her Flames, twisting and spinning to greater and greater heights inside her until it was painful even past the numb cold that had settled in her soul from Silhouette's death. Her next, and last, clear memories started when she reached her destination and allowed herself to Rage.

 _._

 _._

 _The Box Dingo screamed as Skull caught it mid-air by the throat and absorbed its flames without blinking. All around her, the city looked like a war-zone. Pavement cracked under her feet with every step she took as she advanced on the Millefiore forces. Windows shattered under the pressure of her Flames as she swatted aside a soldier who dared to come close. The man went flying, crashing though the walls of the nearest building with such force that he was nothing more than a large red stain by the end of his journey._

 _Skull spun underneath the swing of another Storm flame user with a scythe. Coming up beneath his guard, Skull slammed her Cloud-coated hand through his heart before whirling and using the body as a projectile against the others. The men in front of her screamed as the body of their comrade crashed into their ranks, momentarily distracted. Skull burst into a sprint, Cloud flames sending her shooting forward like a bullet in the seconds of their distraction._

 _The men had barely enough time to process the surge of her Killing Intent before she was slaughtering them. Heads disintegrated under the force of her blows, bodies went flying, any limbs that attempted to grasp her were ripped off or simply burned to ash. Her Mist flames rippled out, crawling up the sides of buildings and choking the Millefiore's snipers with illusions of being hundreds of feet underwater or being strangled with chains._

 _A shot went off in the crowd and Skull felt the bullet whip through her right lung, sending her to her knees. Her Cloud flames spiked, forcibly knitting the punctured organ back together as Skull stood up and resumed her rampage._

 _She rounded a street corner and a Sun Elephant slammed its trunk into her ribs, sending her skidding back into a building. Skull faltered for a second, blood welling up in her mouth from her damaged internal organs._ I'm not done yet, _she snarled internally._ _Her flames spiked again and Skull exploded into action, leaping up to land on the surprised box animal's head and drive a stake of Mist flames through its brain._

 _Somewhere in the flood of enemy soldiers, someone screamed, "That's impossible!" But the only attention Skull paid the cry was to use it to pinpoint her next target and throw a toothpick through his eye._

 _The world began to narrow until there was nothing but the fight in front of her, the enemies she had yet to kill. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she acknowledged the presence of the Varia, watching from afar, and was touched. But the rest of her was too busy kicking the nearest soldier into his fellows to really notice._

 _Another bullet slipped past her guard and into her chest._ Not yet. _She rolled to her feet, killed the shooter with Mist flames, kept walking._

 _Two more street corners and an untold number of dead in her wake. Then a swordsman who actually knew what he was doing drove his sword through her ribs._ Not yet. _Pulling the sword free, she used it to split the swordsman from head to navel before she threw it away and kept walking._

 _Two more box animals, a scorpion and a shark. Blood dribbling from her shoulder and leg as she ripped their flames from them and kept going._ Not yet.

 _She was inside Millefiore Headquarters itself now. Her battle-hazed eyes settled on the figure standing in the middle of the room with a serene smile and Skull snarled. She lunged forward, hands outstretched like claws when another shot went off._

 _Skull's head snapped to the side as a sniper at least mile outside of the war-zone sent a bullet through her temple. She dropped to the ground and was still, unresponsive as Byakuran ambled calmly forward and crouched down next to the tiny body, "Well, well. I guess I can see why they called you the World's Strongest Cloud, Skull-kun. But I'll be taking this now-"_

 _His fingers brushed her pacifier and suddenly both Cloud and Mist flames roared. A scream ripped from Skull's throat as she surged to her feet again and latched onto the startled Byakuran. There was no higher thought to her next actions, not tactics or reasoning. There was only primal instinct, the sheer Dying Will to see the man in front of her_ burn-burn-burn **-burn** _that kept her going for those crucial few seconds past the shot that should have been instantly fatal._

 _Byakuran screamed, his Flames leaping with his agony as Skull grabbed the hand that had tried to remove her pacifier and_ ** _pulled_** _._

.

.

It would only be later, much later when the Varia had settled down from the stress of receiving ten years worth of new memories and were emotionally stable enough to tell her about the final battle against Byakuran that Skull would learn just what she had done to the Millefiore Boss in her dying moments.

Though a Mist had shifted Byakuran out of the blast radius in time to survive the explosion of her flames and the best of his doctors and Sun flame users had healed the burns scars on his body and parts of his face, even Shoichi Irie and Spanner working together with the medical division had been unable to fix the damage of Skull's direct attack.

When Byakuran had fought against Tsuna in the last battle, he had done so with only one arm.

His other arm had been destroyed, ripped off at the shoulder by Skull's Cloud-enhanced yank. The nerves in his shoulder, which could have been connected to a prosthetic much the same as Squalo's sword-hand in that future, had been burned out by the Mist flames, corroded and mutilated to the point where they could no longer send or receive messages from Byakuran's brain.

Every Sun-user in the Millefiore had been called in to try to repair the damage, but Sun flames could only work when there was something left to **fix** and Skull had left no such possibilities.

For now though, Skull just remembered pain and rage and hate followed by … nothing. A terrifying nothing that was much, much worse than any other time she had been hit with a fatal shot. It was even worse than the very first time, when she had broken her neck and been left in blackness with nothing but an ever-slowing heartbeat and her own thoughts.

" _Bright Spark_?" Silhouette rubbed a finger over Skull's still body, their bond wide open so as to reassure each other that they were both alive.

Skull stirred listlessly in Silhouette's palm, " _You died_."

" _I know. I'm sorry, Bright Spark_. _I had no other choice_."

Skull shifted closer to Silhouette's chest plates, listening to her sister's steady spark-beat, " _I died too_. _I tried to take out Byakuran_."

Silhouette stiffened, then forced herself to relax, " _Did you succeed_?"

Skull shrugged, " _I don't know_. _I didn't live long enough to find out_."

Silhouette hummed softly and Skull mused in a distant sort of way that they were talking about their respective deaths far more calmly than was healthy. Skull supposed that they were probably either still in shock from having ten years of memories dumped in their heads, or they were automatically compartmentalizing the trauma. Again.

Both huddled in the garage in silence for hours, clinging to the feeling of their bond and not caring for anything else. Skull didn't even move to get something to eat. Food and hunger just … held no meaning to her. Not after everything she had experienced, not when the cold of her now-non-existent bonds was seeping into her bones and freezing her in place despite Silhouette's best efforts.

The duality of her thoughts and feelings was … strange. On the one hand, she knew that she had never Harmonized with a Sky, that she shouldn't miss bonds that she had never possessed. Yet on the other hand, she **had** possessed those bonds. She had found a Sky, her Sky, and could remember so, so clearly what it was like to feel the warmth that came from Harmony and Home. She shouldn't feel cold, nothing should feel different, yet everything felt **wrong**.

The only thing that felt right was Silhouette's steady sparkbeat under Skull's ear and the feeling of life and comfort flowing between them in an endless loop. But even then, the memory of how it felt for that bond to shatter and disappear plagued her, added to the numbness stealing over her limbs.

It was strange, she had never realized just how alone she was until she had had memories of what it was like to not be dumped into her head.

A demanding buzz of the safe-house intercom pushed its way through the haze of numbness and contemplation that had fallen on her and Skull listlessly stirred to stare at the security station she had set up in her garage years ago. Before her sluggish thoughts could formulate a reaction to the buzzing intercom, Silhouette whispered, "Oh, thank **Primus** ," and keyed in the command to open the gate.

Skull blinked up at Silhouette in a silent, vague question as her sister pushed open the garage door as well and began hurrying down the driveway in her bipedal form. Silhouette gave her a relieved smile, " _Can't you feel it, Bright Spark_? _They're here_!" _They…?_

A voice suddenly shook the air, " **Voi**! There you are! What the h*** did you think you were d*** well doing, dying on us like that you stupid f****** bike!"

 _Squalo._ Skull's eyes snapped wide open and she sat up with a jerk, leaning over Silhouette's fingers to look farther down the driveway. Her breath hitched as she saw the Varia, her Territory, her Pride, thundering up the driveway to meet them. Squalo was waving his sword and bellowing curses at Silhouette even as he fought with Belphegor for second place in the impromptu race, Levi and Lussuria right on their heels.

Her eyes jerked to the figure leading the race up the drive by at least twenty yards and a lump formed in her throat, "Xanxus…"

Red eyes snapped up to look at her and Flames blazed as her Sky suddenly launched himself into the air with his pistols. He flew just slow enough for Silhouette to register his intentions and raise her other servo into place before he had slammed down onto her palms inches away from Skull.

Sky and Cloud stared at each other for a few seconds, their Flames rising and swirling in instinctive probes, as if to double-check the other's identity. Then Xanxus holstered his pistols and crouched down in front of her, his scars fully visible as he studied her intensely, "Chibi."

The gruff word shattered the odd paralysis that had fallen over Skull and she threw herself at him. Xanxus grunted faintly as Skull collided with his chest, her arms shamelessly wrapping around his neck and her forehead pressed against his throat. There was a snap and a jolt inside them both as the Harmony they wanted to be there, remembered being there in the Future That Never Was, roared to existence.

Xanxus sat back slowly, one hand pressed against Skull's back as their Flames twisted and mingled with an uncharacteristic desperation. Memories of death, so recent to their minds even though it had technically never happened, caused them to instinctively do everything they could to confirm that everything was alright now, that Skull wasn't dead and their bond wasn't shattered and that Skull wasn't slowly withering away under the affects of a poison that had no cure.

Silhouette made a slight noise of surprised relief and amusement at something and moments later, Skull heard someone clamber onto hers and Xanxus's perch, "Voi! Move over S***** Boss! I'm gonna-" Shifting into her Mist Adult form unexpectedly, Skull kept one arm firmly wrapped around Xanxus while the other grabbed Squalo and dragged him against her other side.

Rain flames washed against Misty Cloud like a tide and Skull keened faintly in relief at the sensation of her bond with the cranky swordsman swirling back into existence like an endless, two-way current. Squalo paused in mid-word, an odd choking noise escaping his throat at her actions and the sensation of the bond bursting back into existence.

Silhouette had dropped into a cross-legged position and lowered her servos into her lap by that point, leaving a much shorter climb and more room for the next arrivals. Squalo had just begun to recover from his reaction to his re-bonding with Skull when there was a screech and Belphegor hurtled into Skull's stomach. A bond like wires and storm-clouds clicked into place as the blond wrapped his arms around her midriff and squeezed painfully tight, "Stupid, stupid, **stupid** , Peasant Cloud!" He hissed in a strained voice, "The Prince did not give you permission to die!"

Skull wheezed out a laugh past the blurring in her eyes, "Sorry, Bel."

Belphegor removed one arm from his bear-hug to smack Skull's shoulder roughly, "It's **Prince Belphegor**! You no longer have permission to call the Prince, Bel. Not until you prove you won't be such a f****** moronic peasant!"

Skull started to apologize again when Lussuria cannoned into the group, practically smothering Belphegor between himself and Skull as the Sun somehow managed to cradle her head to his chest, " **Skull-chan** ~! Silhouette-chan! You're alright~!" Ignoring Belphegor's frantic attempts to work a hand free and stab him, Lussuria scolded, "You are grounded! Both of you, do you hear me? Grounded! You're both getting complete medical examinations and then you'll be grounded for a year! No, indefinitely!"

Xanxus, partially pinned under the growing pile of his Elements, saw fit to growl, "Only after I'm done beating both their afts into fragging **slag** when we get back."

Levi tumbled gracelessly onto Silhouette's crowded palms, shoving his way in between Squalo and a still-stuck Belphegor to cuff Skull's head and reinitiate their bond, "You made a lot of trouble for the Boss, both of you! You two are going to have to work d*** hard to make it up to him! And I'll be personally making sure you two don't slip up!"

Squalo head-butted Levi roughly from behind and roared, "Voi! Not until I'm done slicing the f****** idiots to pieces! And get your d*** foot off my stomach!"

Skull smiled broadly at the threats and the roughhousing that started up around her, too overjoyed at the sensation of her Pride's Flames mingling with hers to really care. A light weight settled on her head and Skull's heart skipped a beat at the sensation of Mist flames whispering almost shyly against hers.

Swallowing back memories of Mammon's bond withering away to nothing and the _pain-rage-grief-denial_ that had followed, Skull hissed up at her fellow Arcobaleno, "I'm going to beat you into paste for what you did, Mammon. Gooey purple **paste**."

"… I will pay for the hospital bill in that eventuality." Skull reluctantly relaxed again, knowing that the quiet mutter was the closest thing she would ever get to an apology.

Turning her attention away from the haunting memories of the Future That Never Was, Skull gleefully joined in the roughhousing, relishing in the sensation of all of her fellow Elements mingling Flames until Lussuria accidentally elbowed Xanxus in the chest and their Sky snarled that if they didn't shut up and settle down **right that instant** he was going to kick them all off Silhouette's lap and shoot them. Obediently, his Elements all stopped kicking, elbowing, and cursing each other and just flopped against one another in a mass of limbs and interweaving Flames.

Silhouette looked down at them all with a bland expression and dryly demanded to know when she had been demoted to a glorified chair, but from the thrilled emotions Skull could feel over their bond, she was certain her older sister was taking a million photos of their cramped "puppy pile".

It was only after they had managed to, somehow, peacefully coexist in that position for the grand total of two hours, some of them even dozing off, that a new thought suddenly occurred to Skull and she sat up sharply. Squalo gave a loud noise of protest at his pillow moving while Belphegor grunted at being accidentally knocked into Levi. The protests started to grow in volume from various members until Skull demanded, "Where's Fran?"

Silence fell like a death knell over the group. The non-Cloud and non-Mist members exchanged frantic looks as they realized that Fran, Skull's unofficially adopted Baby Mist, wasn't with them. He hadn't even been recruited yet in the current timeline and in the rush to get to Skull and keep their Cloud from doing something suicidal, again, they had kind of … forgotten about him.

Finally, Mammon broke the silence with a hesitant question, "Who is Fran?"

Xanxus grumbled and unearthed himself from the pile of Elements, idly shoving Levi off of Silhouette's lap for more room as he answered, "Fran's one of mine. He joined after you went and got yourself killed like a d*** idiot. Find him."

"Right now?" Mammon sounded vaguely surprised.

Skull, whose good mood had faded somewhat at realizing the absence of her Baby Mist growled, " **Now**."

Mammon tensed a bit at Skull's tone, it was the tone she used right before throwing people after all, before she obediently floated into the air and fished out a piece of paper from under her cloak. A grumble about working for free and a sneeze later and Mammon announced, "France. He's in Jura, France."

Silhouette gently put down the rest of the Varia, her voice laced with thinly veiled amusement as she said, "A road trip, then?"

 **.**

 **.**

* * *

 **.**

 **.**

Fran splashed listlessly in the stream, trying to push memories of the Nightmare out of his head.

He was only partially succeeding.

It had been two days since the Nightmare, but no matter what he did or what his Grandma said, he still couldn't stop thinking about it, about the people in it, about what it meant. It certainly didn't help his efforts of denial that the freaky magic powers he'd had in the Nightmare, _"Mist Flames"_ , muttered the voice in the back of his mind, were now real.

He stared down at the stream as it splashed around the rock on which he was perched and glared at his distorted reflection, _just a stupid nightmare. None of it was real, just like Grandma says, it's all in your head-_

 _._

 _._

 _Smoke clogged his nostrils and made it even harder to breathe as the house went up in flames. Tongues of fire danced ever closer, choking the air and threatening to catch onto his clothes as he pushed himself farther into the corner and begged for his grandmother to come save him, to wake up and put the fire out. The fire came closer, there was nowhere to run, and he knew he was going to die. He was going to burn and no one was going to miss him because his grandmother was already dead and- and-_

 _He didn't want to die. He refused to die. He wanted_ ** _out_** _._

 _The flames leaped closer, ready to consume him, when he suddenly wasn't there anymore. He had been pulled away, jerked through the wall of the burning house and onto the grass of the lawn by … something. Indigo fire that curled up his fingers and arms yet brought none of the heat and damage that the orange fire consuming his home did._

 _._

 _._

 _Blood. Blood that dripped onto the floor into ever larger puddles while They sent in yet another fighter, another captive like him to burn in Flames. He stumbled to his feet, struggling to keep his left leg from crumpling out from underneath him as the world-weary Sun in front of him fell into a combat position and he despaired. Why did They make him do this? What did They even want from him? Didn't they have enough Mists locked up in Their cells? Didn't They have enough soldiers? Why? Why-why-why-why-_

 _._

 _._

 _A flick of the fingers, a twist of his Flames, and his target dropped to the floor, an illusionary hang-noose wrapped tight around his neck. Fran walked away, numbed to his act, numbed to everything after three years under Their harsh training._

.

.

Fran hunched in on himself, hands flying to his temples as he hissed, "Stop it, s-stop it! Stop making me see-!"

 _._

 _._

 _A stranger who freed him from Them. The man who killed Them but spared him, trained him, taught him to survive even if his methods were rough and his tongue sharp. His Shishō. Mukuro Rokudo._

 _._

 _._

 _Strangers, assassins who called themselves the Varia. So angry, yet somehow warmer than Mukuro had ever been. Warmer than anything Fran had felt in a long time. He had learned to fight with them, stand alongside them, had been_ ** _one of them_** _, been part of the same Sky even after their Cloud, the first of them to accept him, had shattered and died._

 _._

 _._

 _"_ _You need to go find them. You need to go find your Sky-"_ Fran growled and mentally slammed down a wall between himself and the Nightmare, locking away the voice that pushed and prodded at him to move and search and believe in what he'd seen that night. Fran jumped into the stream, trying to convince himself that the mental wall would last this time and that the Nightmare would stop chipping away at his attention, stop pushing those horrible images and feelings and loss onto him.

None of it was real. If it was, he'd be eighteen, living with a bunch of crazy assassin people, the world would be very close to ending because of an even crazier person with white wings, and his family would be missing a member because she had gone and- and-

But that wasn't the case. He was only eight, if a very smart eight, and he lived with his grandmother in a little house high up in the Jura mountains. The world wasn't ending, people didn't have wings, and he didn't feel like his insides were frozen from the gaping lack of Flame bonds because those things **didn't exist in the first place**.

And maybe if he kept telling himself that, the little voice in his head that sounded like eighteen-year-old Fran would go away and take the memories of the Nightmare with him.

Fran mindlessly jumped up and down in the stream, getting his clothing soaked before he huffed and decided to go play in the lake instead. He splashed his way upstream, muttering to himself the entire way. Maybe catching frogs would take his mind off of the Nightmare.

 _._

 _._

 _A cackle and the whistle of metal flying past his head, "Run faster, Froggy!"_

 _._

 _._

 _A snarl as he dodged around the corner, his pursuer no less that a few steps behind, "Hold still so I can skewer you, you d*** Froggy!"_

 _._

 _._

 _Flames like lashing rain and a roar that shook the walls, "Voi! Get moving, Froggy! You're on patrol with the S***** Prince!"_

.

.

The flashes were only dull impressions compared to the in-depth details they'd been earlier, but Fran sighed and tightened his mental wall anyway, _so much for that. Who calls a kid "Froggy" anyway?_ Fran blinked as he caught his reflection in the stream water again and he scowled when he realized that his magic powers, _"Mist Flames"_ , snapped the muffled voice behind the wall, had subconsciously made a frog hat just like the one he'd worn in the Nightmare.

Just to be contrary, Fran forced the hat to change shape into the furthest thing he could think of from a frog. The gleaming red apple hat settled into place and Fran grunted in satisfaction at his work before he moved on. He managed to escape thoughts of the Nightmare, and ignore the nagging little voice in his head, for about an hour by playing in the lake.

Then, just as he sat down to eat the box lunch Grandma had made him, a twig snapped loudly not very far to his right. Fran looked up sharply, his mouth clicking shut as he studied the area with care. He was about to dismiss it as nothing when the little voice in his head hissed, _"Shishō"_ , and the boy noticed the tingle of foreign Mist flames in the air. Swallowing down his sudden fear, Fran stood up, looked directly into the patch of Mist flames, and called, "What do you want?"

There was a pause, then the Flames rolled away to reveal three figures that made Fran's throat close, _no. No-no-no-no-_ "Kufufufu. Hello again, Fran. It's been awhile."

Panic tugged on the edges of Fran's mind and some instinct that hadn't existed before two days ago made his face fall into an expression of utter disinterest. He was dimly aware of waving his arms in his Grandmother's go-away-spirit dance and babbling about Pineapple Fairies, but in reality he was much too busy trying to keep himself from screaming and running the other way.

They couldn't be real. They had to be his Mist flames acting up again, or another dream, or something because if they were real the rest of it was real and that meant she was **dead-dead-dead-**

Shish- the Pineapple Fairy, was yelling at him now and Fran shot off the first sarcastic thing that came to mind even as he looked around subtly for the best escape route. _"It's just Shishō,"_ sighed the voice in his head. _I don't want it to be Shishō!_ Fran snapped back viciously, _I don't want it to be real!_

By this point, the Kokuyo Ga- the Pineapple Fairy and his minions, were striding closer, the two minions spreading out in a manner that threatened to box him in while the Pineapple Fairy scowled and demanded that Fran had to remember him, because surely he'd gotten the same future memories as the rest of them?

 _Memories. He knows about the memories, which means I'm not the only one, which means-_ Fran bolted, diving between Chik- Fairy Minion One's legs and sprinting off into the forest. _Get away, get away, get away!_

The underbrush crashed and snapped behind him, signaling that he was being chased, "Wait! Get back here-byon!"

 _"_ _It's Ken. He's faster than you."_ Murmured the voice, _I don't care! Just shut up!_ Fran twisted around a tree trunk, trying to shake his pursuit. Just as he spotted a thicket and made to dive into it to escape, there was a flash of darkness in front of him and then Fran was suddenly crashing into a pair of legs.

He hit the ground with a grunt and barely had time to look up and see Shish- the Pineapple Fairy's stern face when hands roughly grabbed him from behind and a voice cheered, "Gottcha-byon!"

"Let me go!" The cry burst from him, laced with panic that he couldn't hide.

Shish- the Pineapple Fairy crouched down in front of him and waved a trident menacingly, "Fran. I do not appreciate all this melodrama. You know who we are, so come along."

"I don't remember you! I don't!" Fran's breath came in sharp, short pants and he could barely hear Chik- Fairy Minion One, telling the person holding him that Fran was hyperventilating.

 _"_ _Stop it. Calm down right now."_ Snapped the little voice, much clearer now that Fran's mental walls were crumbling under his stress, _"Panic will only make it worse."_

"Shut up! Let me go!" Fran lashed out with his Mist flames, a snarling dog bounding out of the bushes to attack the one pinning him down.

A wave of stronger Mist flames dispelled the dog before it could reach its target and Shish- the Pineapple Fairy started to say something when a dark feeling, _"Killing Intent,"_ the little voice supplied, flooded the area. A low voice snarled from the side as twin "clicks" filled the air, "I'm only going to say this once, Trash. **Get your hands off what is mine**."

The hands holding him down vanished immediately and Fran scrambled to his feet. He spun in the direction of the voice, his heart in his throat as the little voice in his head suddenly went from a stubborn mutter to a screaming chant of _"He's-here-my-Sky-he's-here-my-Sky-!"_ The Pineapple Fairy took a cautious step back as a new group stepped out of the woods, the sensation of furious Flames smothering the air with danger.

 _It … It's really them. It's really… then that means…_ The Pineapple- no- Mukuro Rokudo smiled thinly, "You forget, Xanxus, he was mine **first**."

Xanxus gave a primal growl and Fran saw his scars start to extend warningly, "You aren't a Sky, trash."

Mukuro's eyebrows shot upward at the implication before he retorted, "Kufufu, but I am his Shishō. Surely you'd at least like to wait until he's fully trained again before you have to deal with him?"

Sky flames spiked, "Mammon can train the Brat."

Mukuro subtly stepped back and the little voice stopped shrieking long enough to inform Fran that the older Mist was well aware he was pushing boundaries that shouldn't be tested, "I defeated Mammon, remember? I would make a much better teacher for him."

Xanxus's lips curled dangerously, about to growl something else when he was interrupted by a low hiss. Another, even more aggressive Flame spilled into the clearing and a figure pushed through the rest of the Varia and started stalking toward Mukuro with gleaming purple eyes. Fran felt his mouth go dry and even the little voice in his head went utterly silent as he watched the newcomer swat aside a bristling Ken, go nose to nose with a now wide-eyed Mukuro, and snarl, "Fran is **mine** and he is coming with us. Right. Now. **Understood**?"

Mukuro huffed softly through his teeth, a decidedly nervous gleam in his eyes now, "Perhaps we should just ask Fran who he wishes to go with, then?"

All eyes swung to Fran, but Fran was still too busy staring at the newcomer. Purple eyes blinked down at him and her voice dropped from its dangerous snarl to a soft and concerned, "Fran?"

Fran blinked back the sudden blurring in his eyes as it finally sank in that, while the people from the Nightmare were apparently real, she was somehow still alive. She was alright, she was right there and … and …

 _._

 _._

 _Glittering purple eyes bored into his own from across the training ground, "You're in the Varia now, youngling, and I'm going to make sure you survive long enough to learn just how lucky you are for that."_

 _._

 _._

 _Hours and hours of harsh training, beating him into the ground again and again with either illusions or fists until he could barely see straight from exhaustion. He would have thought she hated him just like Bel-senpai did were it not for the gentle touches, expertly applied bandages after every session, and whispered praises of, "Nice try, my youngling. You'll get me next time."_

 _._

 _._

 _Saving his life on a mission she wasn't even supposed to be on. Shortening her lifespan by weeks, if not months, by being outside just to ensure he made it home despite his mistakes._

 _._

 _._

 _Tiny hands draping a cool cloth on his face after he'd come down with a nasty flu, "Stupid youngling. Why were you training out in the rain at such an hour?"_

 _His own voice as he rasped out his chosen lie, "Eh, you know, just bored listening to Squalo-taichō's screaming. Thought the rain would drown it out."_ I have to train more, I have to be stronger than this so I don't get left behind.

 _Wise, tired amethyst eyes that already seemed to know what he wouldn't say and a quiet reply of, "We won't abandon you, my youngling. You're one of ours now, and we protect our own."_

 _._

 _._

 _A scream that tore through his soul and made him clench his fists until he bled because despite all his training, despite how far he'd come, there was nothing he could to do fix_ ** _this_** _._

 _._

 _._

 _A wordless goodbye. A turned back and a revving motorcycle while his desperate protests got stuck in his throat._

 _._

 _._

 _A final, defiant scream of Cloud and Mist flames that seared the air itself before, without warning, without time to prepare, she was gone and Fran was left with nothing but a gaping hole in his soul._

.

.

Sheer, overwhelming emotion drove him to his feet and he tackled her, both him and the little voice in his head sobbing aloud, " _Maman_! **_Maman_**!"

Skull dropped into crouch immediately, her arms wrapping tightly around him as something snapped into place between them and Fran's Mist flames cried with relief and Skull, wonderfully alive, whole, undamaged Skull whispered, "Shh, my youngling, I'm here, it's okay now. It's okay…"

 **.**

 **.**

* * *

 **.**

 **.**

Xanxus silently strode forward, his other Elements sweeping out to protectively surround his Cloud and his Baby Mist. Placing himself directly between them and Mukuro, Xanxus rumbled in a deceptively soft tone, "I'd say Fran just made his choice, trash."

Mukuro raised his hands placatingly and backed up, away from the seething full set of Elements and their "Cub", "Kufufufu, so it would seem." Xanxus channeled a small amount of Sky flames into his right X-Gun, causing it to whine and glow dangerously. Mukuro's hands crept a little higher and he subconsciously bared his neck in submission to the snarling Sky in front of him, "Ken, Chikusa, we're going. There is nothing for us here."

For once, the animal trash didn't whine or bark about his orders, he just mumbled an assent and hurried away after his leader.

Xanxus stood guard over his Cloud and Baby Mist long after Mukuro and his trash had fled the area. His Sky flames hummed beneath his skin as he restlessly patrolled the small clearing, unable to calm down while the sounds of his Baby Mist's tears drilled into his ears. His other Elements circled tightly in sync with him, their Flames automatically rising in an attempt to reassure their crying cub and a warning to any strangers who might dare intrude.

Lussuria hovered mere feet away from Fran and Skull, occasionally reaching out toward the boy before pulling back with a sad frown and visually scanning the area for non-existent threats.

Levi stood stoically at Skull's back, ready to defend in an instant, static Lightning flames arcing off of his hair and shoulders every time Fran's sobs crested in volume.

Squalo prowled in uneven circles, his pulsing Rain flames most likely being the only thing keeping Xanxus from snapping and shooting at something to ease the tension in his shoulders. For once, his Rain was silent as he moved. He didn't bellow or complain about the breakdown their cub was experiencing in the center of their defensive circle. He just drifted from the outskirts of the clearing to mere feet from Fran's and Skull's side, waiting unhappily for their Cloud to soothe the distress of their youngest.

Mammon lurked nearby, her Mist flames curling around the perimeter, no doubt using illusions to mask the sounds of distress from anything that might overhear and come looking. She had never seen Fran before, so she was not quite as tense and agitated as the others, had no idea just how **wrong** it was for the boy to show so much emotion, but she was a powerful adult Mist and she was in the presence of a distressed juvenile Flame. That was enough to make her bristle subtly with the desire to defend.

Xanxus shot a glance at the last of his Guardians. Belphegor was snarling low in his throat as he skirted along the farthest edges of the clearing, his fingers whirling his knives into agitated patterns as he searched for a target upon which to vent his frustrations. As he watched, Xanxus spotted Belphegor turn his head toward where Skull was cradling the crying Fran, his lips twisting into an expression of concern before he hissed and resumed his restless patrol.

Xanxus rumbled himself, no active Flame-user with properly functioning instincts could stand the sound and sight of a distressed Baby Element. It set off every primal protective instinct they had even if the child was a stranger. Considering that Fran was **theirs** , had been theirs for almost two years in the memories of What Never Was, it was a wonder that the forest was still standing. All they needed was the slightest provocation, the tiniest hint that Fran's distress came from an outside threat and not an internal problem, and they would level the landscape to remove it.

Finally, the sobs lessened in volume and Skull poked Xanxus over their bond, signaling that Fran had calmed down enough that reestablishing their bond would not send him into shock. Xanxus turned away from his prowling and strode to her side, holstering one X-Gun as he did so. Skull sat back, Fran cradled in her lap and as the boy blinked silently up at him, Xanxus was struck by how much **younger** the Baby Mist was. Not just physically, but mentally.

There was no permanently flat, emotionless mask to hide his thoughts, no sarcastic quips. Even though Fran clearly recognized him, had certainly gotten the memories of the Future That Never Was, the sharp darkness that had clung to his second Mist wasn't present. Or at least, it was thoroughly buried under the wary yet childish hope gleaming in Fran's gaze.

Xanxus carefully reached out a hand, making sure to move slowly so as not to startle the boy. His fingers carded through Fran's hair with almost uncharacteristic gentleness, his Sky flames curling possessively in the air and his bond with Fran settled back into place. The boy instantly sagged with relief, a hundred emotions flickering over the new bond as he clung to it. Xanxus carded his fingers through the aquamarine hair again in a silent show of reassurance before he stood up and made room for his other Elements to approach Fran.

Lussuria bounded forward first, grabbing Fran's hands with his own as he cooed, "There we go, Fran-kun~! Everything's alright now, see? Doesn't that feel so much better~? We were so worried about you Fran-kun~!"

Levi grunted from his position at Skull's back and reached over the Cloud's head to pat Fran roughly, "About d*** time you calmed down, brat. You were beginning to annoy Boss."

Squalo swept over and lightly cuffed Fran's shoulder before straightening up and roaring, "Voi! You better not think you'll f****** get away with this a second time, Froggy! There are no d*** crybabies in the Varia!"

Mammon floated over into Fran's line of sight but refrained from touching as she droned, "I am your new Shishō, child, so you had better be a good investment of my time." Fran nodded wordlessly to Mammon, the first physical reaction he'd given to the other Elements aside from Skull so far.

He then tensed as Belphegor stalked over to him and Skull narrowed her eyes warningly at the Storm. While the older Fran was able to return Belphegor's snide remarks and threats with unflappable sass, this one was younger and currently vulnerable and Skull was clearly not about to tolerate any overtly violent displays.

Belphegor crouched down and stared at Fran for a very long time, long enough that Lussuria made a cautious move to step between them. Belphegor waved Lussuria back and then barked at Fran, "You broke the rule, Froggy."

Fran blinked once, then twice, then his apple hat morphed obediently into a frog hat and a flicker of the older Fran peaked through, "But, Bel-senpai," he complained in a deadpan voice, "it's so lame."

Belphegor huffed and roughly poked Fran's forehead with a finger, "The Prince's orders are never 'lame', stupid Peasant Frog."

Fran reached up and touched the place Belphegor had poked before his lips twitched with a hint of mischief and he droned, "Aw, Bel-senpai, I knew you missed me. You're aim is so terrible after all." The last part was a poor stage whisper and had Belphegor twitching for his knives.

Skull made a warning noise and Belphegor backed off with a sneer, "Just wait until your precious Skull isn't around, Froggy. Then I'll just you just how 'terrible' my aim is, ushishishi…"

Fran hummed and Xanxus interrupted before one of the infamous arguments between the two could really get started, "Alright, move it trash. Back to the d*** car."

Skull stood up smoothly, using her illusionary adult form to carry Fran as she fell into line with him without question. Fran tilted his head, confusion flashing across his face, "Car? Where are we going? What about grandma?"

Squalo rolled his eyes from his position on Xanxus's right, "Voi! Where the h*** else would we be going? We're going back home!"

Lussuria hovered by Skull's side, "We already cleared everything with your grandmother, Fran-kun~! That's what took us so long to get to you. All of your things are already packed up and waiting in the car~, and you grandmother had promised to call you every week to see how you're doing. Isn't that nice~?"

Belphegor sniggered from his place on point, "Ushishishi. Stupid Peasant Froggy. Can't even remember where his pond is."

Levi, hovering on the group's flank in case of trouble, grunted, "You're going to be trained back up to Varia Quality. So no complaining and don't disappoint Boss, got it?"

Xanxus glanced at Fran out of the corner of his eye, "You got a problem with all that, trash?"

Fran stared first at Xanxus, then at the other figures who had stepped out of the Nightmare-Which-Was-Apparently-Real, then up at Skull. Skull smiled at him warmly, adding to the glow of warmth and Harmony swirling in his soul from his bonds. Inside his head, the little voice had fallen into a wordless purr of contentment and for the first time since he'd first experienced the Nightmare, he felt … calm. The memories were still there, lurking in the back of his mind, but now there was the feeling of _warmth-home-safe-_ ** _ours_** steadily pushing it back.

Settling his head on his Maman's shoulder, Fran looked back at Xanxus and sent a happy hum over their bond as he murmured, "Ne, Xanxus-Boss…" he hesitated and then admitted even more softly, "I think I already am home."

The little voice in his head paused in its purring long enough to snort at the sentimentality of his words, but from the flood of pleased, proud feelings from those around him, Fran knew he had said the right thing. But then, it was the truth after all.

He was already home.

* * *

 **Explanations: First off, I think it states somewhere in the Manga that Skull can in fact survive having his/her brain completely destroyed, but is hospitalized for a while after. So, my reasoning behind why the sniper shot killed her when Bermuda didn't is that Skull got back up after the headshot. Normally, that kind of head wound would force her into a comatose state while her Cloud Flames rebuilt all of the neural pathways in her brain. In this instance, not only are her Flames in the process of Shattering, but instead of going comatose and letting the repairs happen slowly and carefully, Skull's Will to destroy Byakuran at any cost forced her destabilizing Flames to rebuild the necessary neural pathways in seconds while sending neural commands to her limbs almost at the same moment the repairs were taking place. It's like building a bridge and then running a large semi-trailer over it while you're still putting all the supports in place. If the semi is going fast enough it might, MIGHT get across in time, but the bridge is going to collapse behind it in an even worse condition than before because of the strain. So, that's essentially what happened to Skull's brain, and then her Flames finally Shattered and boom, she died. Make sense?**

 **Secondly, about Fran. I remember reading somewhere that Fran in the manga claims to have lost all memories of the Future That Never Was because he got hit over the head with a large block of** **cheese. ... No offense to the wonderful author of KHR, but I call bull. The fact that Fran didn't simply go "Huh?" when talking about the memories tells me that he does remember but seeing as how he would be a kid (eight in my head but who knows) who suddenly gets about ten years of Mafia/War/Death/Who-knows-what-else memories stuffed in his head, he's compartmentalizing and suppressing them like crazy. I could rant for a while on the improbability of a single blow from a single block of cheese erasing TEN YEARS WORTH OF MEMORY, but I won't. Instead, I'll just point out that this is an AU one-shot collection, so I am free to keep Fran's memories. I am also free to have him go with the Varia instead of the Kokuyo Gang because in this universe, Xanxus and his Elements harmonized with Fran and even began to form inter-Element bonds with him. That puts the Varia (overprotective!Mama!Skull in particular) well about the Kokuyo Gang when it comes to loyalty-ties. I hope that all makes sense. If it doesn't ... (shrugs) no idea how to make it more clear. Sorry.**

 **Lastly, yes, Fran has a little voice in his head, it will go away eventually as he grows up and his maturity level rises to match his old self from the Future That Never Was. The reason he has a voice at all is because he's trying to hard to compartmentalize and suppress the memories of The FTNW memories and the maturity that comes with it. But his newfound eighteen-year-old side keeps trying to rise to the fore and thus, Fran perceives that intrusion as a "little voice". Mammon will help him work it all out off-screen, so don't freak out on me or climb on any soapboxes.**

 **There, I think I covered everything.**


	6. Sixth Stanza: How We Met Your Bike

**Hello all! I have brought to you another Stanza! Please remember to read the Author's Note for an explanation or two.**

 **Review Response: Dear farronewp, greetings! I should be working on that one-shot next, but it will take a while to finish. Hopefully this will tide you over for now.**

 **Dear Harrison Orion Black, hey there! Thank you! I'm so pleased you enjoyed it. Mukuro does, in fact, remember what Skull did for a last hurrah. He also knows that it's a Very Bad Idea to get between a Mama!Cloud and her** **perceived "cub". These one-shots going to out of order at times because I'll be writing whatever one-shot catches my fancy for them. So, no Fran this time around unfortunately. But next time should be (if my muses cooperate) Arcobaleno reactions to Skull being awesome.**

 **Dear cherry-888, hello there! Oh, she would, she totally would. Byakuran wouldn't really be able to retort anything either because they both know that he majorly messed up in how he handled Skull that time around. Glad you liked it! Enjoy the update!**

 **Dear buterflypuss, greetings! Glad you liked it!**

 **Dear Shiva, hello! Thrilled to hear it!**

 **Dear May Eve, hi! So happy you enjoyed it! It took FOREVER to write. I hope you enjoy this update as well!**

 **Dear StepOnLego14, greetings! No problem, I do try to update my stories. I just ... get stuck on them sometimes. Here's an update at long last!**

 **Dear Guest, hello there! Happy to please! Have some humor to balance out the angst/fluff of last time!**

 **Dear Dreamer Rose, hi! I am thrilled to hear how much you enjoy this story, it's been fun to write to far. Skull is a very underrated character in my opinion. Nope, the Arcobaleno have yet to be clued in to Skull's true awesomeness. That should be happening in the update after this (whenever that happens). She's not waiting for anything, she honestly never plans on telling them. The Arcobaleno as a whole have very little of her respect. They are HERS, under her protection, and she acknowledges that they are the best in their fields, but their arrogance and inability to see past their preconceptions has long since disgusted her to the point where she never intends to tell them truth. Of course, intentions and situations don't always agree, so they'll find out eventually. When she DOES, I hope to make it as epic and world-shattering as possible. You are completely correct about Reborn. Dude needs to be taken down a few pegs.**

 **Dear AyameKitsune, hello! Glad you think so! Here's an update, as requested!**

 **Dear EnderSorceress, hey there! Thrilled to hear it! Enjoy the update! I do intend to add more bots at some point, but there are things on the KHR side that I want to cover first. After that, I'll considering mixing more transformers in. Might not be the exact definition of 'soon', but here's an update for you!**

 **Dear Dark-Angel-Elissa, heya! Well ... this is an update, but it doesn't continue the previous chapter. I have yet to write part two to the previous chapter. I hope you enjoy this anyway!**

 **Dear iReadWriteType, hi there! I believe I already responded to this in a PM...? Glad you enjoyed it so much though!**

 **Dear Lehna, greetings! (tips hat) I tried my best. I hope you enjoy the newest chapter!**

 **Dear robina852, hey there! I'm honored that you think so.**

 **Dear Amethyst-Pheonix2003, hello! Here is an update, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait a while longer on the Arcobaleno's reactions. I needed a break from the drama. Have a humor one-shot in the meantime!**

 **Dear Wicken25, hello there! It's on the to-do list. In the meantime, there was a moment I really wanted to cover first. That and I needed a break from the drama the Arcobaleno tend to cause. Reborn's expression would indeed be hilarious...**

 **Author's Note: So, first off, this one-shot actually takes place in the FTNW timeline and was referenced in Xanxus's future-memories. Specifically, this is the time when Bel was a "brat" and thus discovered the truth about Silhouette. I've wanted to do this one since I first adopted the idea from Wolf, so I hope you all enjoy it. Please remember though, that it is NOT meant to be taken too seriously. I actually think this is the closest thing to writing a crack-fic that I've ever done. I don't think it's ACTUALLY crack, but it is meant to make people laugh. Plus, I really can see Bel doing this. He's such a spoiled little trouble-maker. Second thing, you may notice Mammon does not show up during Bel's "discovery", that is because Mammon is away on mission at the time. She comes back in the last part of the story and the others fill her in on what happened. I think that should cover everything, so on to the story!**

 **Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Transformers, cybertronian terms, or any references made in this story. The only things I own are my OCs who have run off with the plot.**

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 **Sixth Stanza: How We Met Your Bike**

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 **Year: 2011. Season: Early Spring. Country: Italy. Age: Cursed. Timeline: FTNW.**

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Belphegor snickered to himself as he slipped down the stairs with his chosen pranking tools. Skull was upstairs getting debriefed and checked over. After that, she would almost certainly be asleep for the rest of the day to recuperate from her long string of back-to-back missions. So now was the perfect time to strike. The Chibi had been getting a little too confident about her skill in avoiding the Prince's pranks, so he had thought up a special one just for the Varia Cloud.

Padding quietly to the garage door, he paused long enough to pull out his phone and temporarily deactivate the garage security cameras. No sense in leaving evidence behind. He wasn't in the mood to be caught in the act and thrown through walls before he could find a nice hiding place to wait out the Chibi's impending wrath.

That completed, he resumed his silent trek into the area informally known as Skull's Den and made his way toward his target. Skull's favorite modified bike sat in the center of the garage, hapless and unguarded from its impending doom. Cackling to himself, Belphegor circled the bike a few times, mentally organizing how he was going to go about his prank, before he set down his tools and whispered cheerfully to the bike, "Your owner has been getting too complacent and cheeky around the Prince. The Prince is here to … remedy that, shishishishi."

Reaching down, Belphegor selected his brush and, with a flick of one of his knives, popped open the paint can. He took a moment to admire the eye-searing shade of neon orange before he dipped the brush in the paint and raised the now-dripping tool toward the bike. The brush swept smoothly across the purple bike, leaving a bright clashing trail of wet paint behind. He swiped a second time, then a third, cackling to himself the entire time. On the fourth swipe, his intended straight line was thrown off into a jagged zig-zag as the entire bike shuddered violently.

Belphegor jerked back, wary of a possible hidden security measure that Skull might have programmed into the bike. He would have thought that any security measures would activate after the first swipe rather than the fourth, but it could be a delayed effect. One never knew with the Chibi.

He watched the bike for signs of booby-traps or alarms for several long seconds before cautiously dipping the paintbrush back into the can and running another stripe of orange across his target. The bike jolted again and this time the thing actually **growled** at him, a short rev coming from the supposedly turned off engine. Belphegor danced back again and resumed staring, his head tilting to one side as he tried to puzzle out just what Skull had programmed her precious bike to do.

It wasn't setting off an alarm, it wasn't trying to drive away to a pre-set location to escape his assault, there didn't even appear to be any attack protocols. Curiosity reared its head, mingling with his already roused sense of mischief and with a wide grin, Belphegor suddenly darted forward and swiped the brush across the bike again. He danced back as the bike jolted and revved again, headlights flickering on and off for a moment.

He repeated his attack five more times, each with a similar reaction, before the bike went inert again and didn't respond to his reckless splashes of paint. Belphegor pouted, he'd been having fun trying to puzzle out what Skull had programed her bike to do. Sighing faintly through his nose in disappointment, Belphegor decided there was enough orange on the bike now and dropped his used brush into the opened paint can.

Reaching over, Belphegor selected the second brush he had brought along and popped open the second unmarked paint can. A truly horrid shade of hot pink glinted in the overhead lights of the garage and Belphegor watched the bike out of the corner of his eye as he carefully dipped the brush in and then pulled it back out, utterly soaked in the new color.

His back muscles tensed in surprise as the bike suddenly began to growl a low, steady note and some of its plating actually rattled. If it had been anything other than an inanimate object, Belphegor would have sworn it was acting like a cornered animal, giving off the last warning signs to stay away or be bitten. Turning to look at it fully, dripping brush in his hand, Belphegor tilted his head to the side, curiosity roused again, "What, don't like the Prince's choice of paint?" He teased the bike automatically, unable to help himself even though a tiny voice in the back of his head was hissing warnings.

Was it his imagination, or had the revving just grown louder? Belphegor contemplated what to do as he held a staring contest with the bike. On the one hand, his instincts were whispering to back off and leave while he could. On the other, he really, really wanted to know how Skull had programed her bike to act this way, why, and what the upper limits of the program were.

On the first hand, he was already messing with the property of the Varia Cloud, so logically he should stop while he was ahead, so to speak. On the second hand again … he wanted to see what would happen if he kept painting the bike. Coming to a decision, Belphegor nodded to himself.

Since when had the Prince ever let anyone, other than Boss, stop him from doing what he wanted?

Darting forward, he drew a long, wide, sloppy pink line down the entire right side of the bike. The revving kicked up to a roar as Belphegor stepped back to admire his work and he jerked in surprise as the bike's kickstand suddenly retracted and the bike straightened up on its own. His instincts, which had been quietly trying to dissuade him from doing this ever since the bike had twitched for the first time, now started screaming warnings to dodge. He obeyed instantly, rolling to the side just in time to avoid getting run over as the bike positively **launched** itself at him.

Rolling back to his feet, Belphegor twisted around to stare at the bike with wide eyes from under his fringe. The bike circled back around with a somehow predatory air, its engine pitch going down to a low growl he was very certain bike engines couldn't naturally reach. For a few seconds, Belphegor and the bike held a standoff, neither moving. Then the bike jerked toward him once, twice, thrice, engine getting louder with each jerk.

Belphegor got the oddest impression for a moment that the thing was actually counting down from five. Instinct had Belphegor pulling out his knives and running when it jerked forward a fourth time. A moment later, his odd impression came true. At the fifth rev, it charged after him, weaving down the aisles of other vehicles with an ease that did **not** look pre-programmed at all. Forgetting for a moment that this was Skull's bike and what she would do to him if he actually damaged her bike rather than pranked it with water-soluble paint, he threw two of his knives over his shoulder at the thing, aiming for the tires.

The bike hunkered down on its wheels and then jumped, **jumped** , over the knives at the last second, speeding up as soon as it landed again.

Belphegor cursed as he dived for the garage door, no prank was worth getting hunted down and run over by Skull's bike. Sprinting through the door that connected the garage to the castle, Belphegor slammed it shut, locked it, and breathed a faint sigh of relief.

His relief was shattered in a rather spectacular manner when the bike rammed straight through the metal door and came barreling toward him with a howling engine that sounded distinctly like a war cry. Dodging to the side, Belphegor cursed and threw another handful of knives at it. Two missed because of the bike's sudden turn, but the other three screeched and ricocheted off of the bike's plating, leaving long, ugly scratches behind.

The bike jolted to a stop and Belphegor watched with wary disbelief as it actually turned its front wheel and adjusted one of its rear-view mirrors as if it was trying to get a look at the damage. There was a very, very long pause as the bike examined the long scratches and the dripping streaks of paint on its side. Very slowly, the front wheel swiveled back to face Belphegor.

A wave of Killing Intent surged through the air, far stronger even than Boss's, and Belphegor swallowed hard to loosen his suddenly dry throat. The bike charged and Belphegor's instincts fully overrode his pride in determining his response.

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Squalo was polishing one of his favorite antique swords when a surge of foreign Killing Intent rippled through the mansion. He was on his feet and running in the direction of the source before he had even fully processed what he had sensed. The same moment comprehension set in, a surge of wild fear that was not his own had Squalo running so fast he was a literally a silver blur to the yelling grunts he passed. It took a second of barreling down the hallways to identify where the surge of fear was coming from. When he did, he started cursing aloud, _what the_ ** _h***_** _just broke in that has f******_ ** _Bel_** _scared?_

Around the mansion, the other Guardians and Xanxus were also racing in the direction of the Killing Intent and Belphegor's poorly-suppressed panic, rushing to reach him in time to defend their fellow Element. Squalo bounded down the stairs, taking them four at a time in his haste, sword already drawn as he roared orders at the grunts he was passing.

As he closed the distance to Belphegor's location, Squalo began to hear a loud noise that didn't fit with the various battle scenarios flashing through his head. It wasn't gun-fire, nor was it anything that he had ever heard from a close combat weapon. It didn't even sound like artillery fire, the pitch was wrong and it was a continuous roar rather than short barks of noise. _Almost sounds like … an engine?_

Raising his sword in preparation, Squalo rounded the corner of the second level, bracing himself for anything that might lie beyond-

Except the sight of Belphegor whipping past Squalo, cursing in every language the prince knew, while Skull's vandalized motorcycle bumped its way up the stairs in hot pursuit, **by itself**.

Stunned despite himself, Squalo slid to a halt and just watched the chase as it shot past him for a moment, trying to get his brain to produce a thought other than, _what the f***?_ A loud engine rev heralded a decidedly undignified yip from their local blond psychopath followed by more shrieked curses. Shaking himself out of his shocked stupor, Squalo took off after Belphegor and Skull's apparently possessed bike.

When he finally caught up with them again, the bike had successfully cornered Belphegor in one of the many unused sitting rooms. Belphegor was pinned flat against the wall with his knives held defensively in his hands while the bike revved and snarled at him from a mere foot away. Sword ready to dispatch the bike should it attack but reluctant to seal his fate by attacking the prized possession of the Varia Cloud, Squalo roared, " **Voi**! What the h*** is going on here?"

Belphegor yelled over the snarling bike, "It isn't the Prince's fault!"

That caused the bike to inch toward the blond with a positively savage snarl and Belphegor struggled to flatten himself against the wall even more. Squalo wavered on attacking with his sword, "Voi! Just knife the thing's tires already, you d*** brat!"

Belphegor's teeth were bared in an animalistic and defensive expression, "The Prince tried that! It doesn't f****** work!"

Squalo eyed the many long scratches littered across the bike's frame and conceded the point. Swallowing back his apprehension at what Skull would do to him once this was over, he lunged for the bike, sword raised.

Faster than even Squalo's trained eye could follow, the bike reversed and turned sharply, avoiding Squalo's sword slash by only a narrow margin. Belphegor took the offered opening and bolted again, this time throwing himself out the large window on the far side of the room rather than risk getting cornered in the narrow castle hallways again.

A rolling collection of sounds that vaguely reminded Squalo of a dying blender and construction machinery grated across his ears as the bike turned its front wheel and made to follow Belphegor. Squalo lunged in front of it, sword flashing for its front tire as he yelled, "Hold still, d*** it!"

The strange sounds grew louder and more complicated as the bike somehow dodged his close-range swing and got around him to jump, literally jump, out of the window in pursuit of Belphegor. Squalo cursed, whirling to pursue as Belphegor's fear spiked shamelessly across the bonds. Leaping out of the window, Squalo took off across the grounds after the bike and its chosen prey. The tires of the possessed vehicle threw dirt and grass into the air with the force of its momentum as Belphegor resorted to tight turns and last minute dodges to avoid being caught.

Squalo tried to slash the bike again, only to miss and somehow end up with a spray of dirt and grass smacking into his face from the squealing back tire of his target. Temporarily blinded, Squalo roared and waved his sword in rage while his other hand tried to clear his eyes. Footsteps thudded up to him and Levi asked breathlessly, "What the f*** is going on?"

Shaking the last of the dirt clear, Squalo swore as he realized that the chase had already moved away from the front grounds and was headed for the gardens, "H*** if I f****** know! All I know is Skull's bike up and decided to move on its own and f****** murder Bel!"

Lussuria fell into step with the other two Elements as they took off after the crazed bike and the screeching Storm it was pursuing, "Mou~, is this some kind of security program Skull-chan installed? The bike does look vandalized~."

Squalo huffed as he signaled the other two to spread out and encircle the bike, "Voi! It would have to be one h*** of a program to navigate the stairs and dodge my attacks in close quarters!"

Levi bluff-charged the bike to distract it from Bel, Lightning flames crackling across his umbrellas. The bike instantly twisted away from Levi and its chosen target, the gargling machinery sounds growing louder in … a tone of outrage? _Wait. Some of that stuff sounds f****** familiar. Where have I heard-?_ His thoughts were interrupted by the bike choosing to avoid Levi's attacks by nearly running the Varia Rain down.

Lussuria bounced on his heels, trying to figure out how to help when it was clear that his Muay Thai was **not** a good idea against a rampaging armored motorcycle. Just as it was circling around for another shot at Bel, who was doing his utmost to climb the wall surrounding the castle grounds, Sky flames rippled powerfully over the area and Xanxus's voice cut through the air, " **That's enough**."

Everyone stopped what they were doing. Levi paused in charging his umbrellas, Lussuria lowered his fists a fraction, Squalo faltered in his charge at the bike, Belphegor froze halfway up the wall like an oversized, terrified blond gecko. Even the bike slid to a grudging halt at Xanxus's command. Xanxus surveyed the scene with hard red eyes, his Sky flames pressing down on everyone in the area, "What. The f***. Is going on?"

Belphegor called from his wall-clinging position, "It was **not** the Prince's fault!"

The bike jerked forward a few feet, the strange dying blender noises coming back with a few loud train whistles thrown in. Xanxus's scowl grew heavier as he studied the demon bike, then looked over his shoulder and demanded flatly, "Translation, Chibi?"

Skull's true form stomped across the grass, Cloud flames simmering with danger and adding to the heavy feeling in the air, "She says that Bel tried to repaint her with the most horrible colors in existence, refused to stand down when she repeatedly warned him, and then scratched her paint with his knives."

Xanxus reacted as if Skull translating the behavioral excuses of an inanimate object was perfectly normal and turned baleful eyes on Bel, "You. Are a d*** idiot, trash."

His gaze flicked to the bike, "And you, don't try to run over my Elements again. If one of them causes that much f****** trouble again, just shoot him in the d*** foot."

The bike stopped its garbled mesh of sounds and was silent for several seconds before it gave a low, grudging beep that sounded like an agreement. Xanxus nodded in seeming satisfaction with the answer, then looked over at Bel, "You're cleaning up the mess you made in the garage, trash."

Levi piped up cautiously, "Um, Boss … aren't you … curious about why Skull's bike can move on its own?"

Squalo waved his sword emphatically in the air, "Any why it can use **tactics in close quarters**? **Voi**!"

Xanxus gave them all a flat look while the bike made a strange rattling sound and Skull looked vaguely surprised. After a moment, Skull slapped her forehead, "Oh, right. We still haven't told them have we? I completely forgot."

Xanxus transferred the flat look to Skull and raised an eyebrow, holding a silent conversation with his Cloud for a few moments before he huffed and moved to lean against the wall, "Make it quick, Chibi. I have s*** to do."

Lussuria voiced curiously, "Haven't told us … what, Skull-chan?"

Skull sighed in a way that indicated she was too tired to deal with the situation with any tact, "Sil." There was a pause, then the bike seemed to come apart at the seams, splitting and rising and **growing** until, before the gawping eyes of the other Varia, it was a giant robot.

Said robot glowered with narrowed red optics at Belphegor, who had fallen off of the wall in shock at the transformation. Skull made one of her impossibly high jumps to land on the robot's outstretched palm, then motioned casually from the Varia to the robot and back, "Everyone, this is my big sister, Silhouette. She's a sentient cybernetic alien life-form that crash-landed here on Earth a few decades ago, before I was born. She's also the one who taught me everything I know. Sil, you already know the idiots."

The robot … alien? … Silhouette spoke in a flawless if irritated italian, "You are very, **very** lucky I know better than to use my guns on any of you. **Especially** you, Belphegor. I. Hate. Pink. And paint scratches."

Belphegor made a wordless selection of squeaking sounds and Squalo felt very much like joining him because seriously … **what**?

Squalo opened his mouth to begin a barrage of questions when the Cloud flames in the air thickened menacingly, "No, Squalo. Sil and I are **tired** , we have had no sleep for **days** , and we are both **Going**. **To**. **Bed**. If you've got questions, fragging ask Xanxus or wait until Sil and I have both had a nice long bath and an even longer recharge." Purple eyes and red optics glared death threats down at Belphegor as Skull finished, "And if we get interrupted again, I guarantee that there will be **consequences**. Understood? Good. Good-Night."

With that, fussy Cloud and apparent robot alien sibling turned around and marched back to the garage, ignoring the sputtering and floundering Varia members they had left behind.

After a long moment of staring, all gazes swung to Xanxus, silently demanding answers. Naturally, because their boss was a shameless pain in Squalo's a**, he merely smirked at them and sauntered away with a lazy, "Not my secret to tell, trash."

Despite much cursing, bribery, and window-shaking shouting for explanations, Xanxus refused to give any answers and they were forced to wait almost two days for Skull to come out of her exhaustion-induced hibernation before they got their answers. Squalo knew Xanxus was having far too much fun with the situation when his Sky refused to suspend the mission that had been scheduled during said two-day period, forcing them to either brave the garage and its grouchy alien occupant or walk several miles to the nearest taxi stop.

Once Skull had recuperated and her not-bike cleaned and repainted from Bel's prank, the Varia were treated to a several hour long lecture on all things Cybertronian. That included the existence of Cybertronian life-forms, an overview of their history, the Great War, how Silhouette ended up on Earth, how she ended up being Skull's sister figure, and what terminology to use around Silhouette unless they wanted to get chased around the grounds by a very unhappy and overprotective Cloud.

"So let me get this straight." Squalo growled as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "We've had a **fifteen-foot** **alien war refugee** living in our garage for almost **three d***** years** and you didn't bother to tell us?"

Skull shrugged, "Pretty much."

Squalo took a deep breath, tried to restrain his temper, failed, and resorted to his standard fallback reaction to all the insanity in his life, " **Voi**! Why the f*** not? Do you even know how much of a security breach this is? We've had an **alien ro-** " Skull growled warningly and Squalo shifted words without pausing, "- **fugitive** living on the grounds without any of us knowing! Some of us have **ridden** on the d*** thing! Why would you not think to even mention it until she almost turned Bel into a f****** tire smear?"

Skull's answer was vaguely sheepish, "To be honest? … I forgot."

Squalo stared at her flatly, "You forgot."

The Cloud shifted a bit, "I've never told anyone about Silhouette. Ever. I never even told Xanxus about her, she chose to reveal herself to him. When I first came here, I didn't trust any of you enough to tell you and after I did come to trust you I just … it never even crossed my mind." A heavy, disbelieving silence fell over the group for a few moments at the simplicity of Skull's reason.

Then Lussuria sighed and cradled his chin with a hand, "Oh Skull-chan, you are just impossible~. Do you know that?"

Skull actually looked abashed at Lussuria's exasperated statement, "…Sorry?"

Mammon pulled out a new notepad, the last three already filled with the new information Skull and Silhouette had given them, her voice perfectly bland as she spoke, "First you fool the Mafia into thinking you are a bumbling fool when you are actually Femme Fatale, now you keep adoptive alien siblings in the garage under the noses of the Varia for an extended period of time. Do you have any **other** secrets that destroy the basic facts of life and reality as we know it that you would care to share?"

Skull's lips twitched upward with the clearly restrained urge to smirk at Mammon's words before she answered, "None that I can think of at the moment, no."

Silhouette chuckled, and Squalo pointedly refused to flinch at the noise. He was not going to be intimidated by the robo- alien- femme who had apparently been living in their garage in secret for almost three years. She hadn't attacked them during all that time, even helped them out with how fast her motorcycle form was. Most of all, S***** Boss trusted her around them, so Squalo was **not** going to be intimidated by her when all she did was laugh.

Even if the laugh did sound distinctly inhuman with its mechanical undertones and it came from a being that was **fifteen f****** feet tall**.

He could handle this. He could deal. He could control the situation-

Mammon was asking more specific questions to flesh out the overview they'd been given on all things Cybertronians, "So, exactly how tall are you compared to the average of your species?"

Silhouette settled back a bit against the wall, shifting her folded legs, "Short actually. Not a dwarf, but definitely on the short side. While there is no strict 'average' height among Cybertronians, I'd say that somewhere between twenty-three to twenty-six feet would be a common norm. Although back before the war, and even during the war among the flyers, there were many of who's frames were as tall as thirty feet. Perhaps if any other Autobots ever make it to Earth, I'll introduce you to them and you can see for yourself."

Squalo took a long moment to contemplate that casual statement. Twenty-some foot average with up to thirty feet being not unheard of. He added in details such as "war refugees", "trained soldiers", "alien weapons", and "robot PTSD from thousands of years of war", and then placed all that in the hypothetical situation of "being on Earth".

A few seconds later he pointedly shut down that line of thought and started snapping out agitated orders, "That's it. Luss! Grill Skull for Cybertronian medical c***. Mammon! Weapons list and damage capability! Levi! Stay the f*** away from her! If I see you throwing lightning bolts at her as some kind of 'test of worth' I'll let Skull have you and then f****** chop what's left of you to bits! Bel! No pranking the alien! Skull! If you have anymore d***** secrets that destroy the basic concepts of f****** reality…" Skull cocked her head innocently as his voice trailed off for a moment.

Squalo rubbed his forehead, "ah, f***. Just … keep them to yourself unless they endanger the Varia. Or write a report and leave it on S***** Boss's desk. I don't want to know. Boss!" Squalo paused at the sight of glee in Xanxus's eyes and pointed his sword menacingly in his Sky's direction, "Voi! Stop laughing about this! It d*** well isn't funny!" Xanxus's smirk just got bigger and the Rain stomped off in disgust. Ignoring the Q&A session that had started up behind him, Squalo stormed indoors and made his way upstairs.

He was going to steal some of his Sky's bourbon stash. Consequences be d*****, he needed a drink.

Almost three years and he'd never known. Though, looking back on things with his new knowledge, it was a wonder he hadn't suspected anything. The sheer speed despite how well-armored the bike was, how it had always just **shown up** wherever Skull needed it to, regardless of where she had originally parked it, those times when he'd sworn he was being watched while selecting a vehicle from the garage…

Squalo tossed back a glass of his chosen liquor and muttered about crazy Clouds and the chaos that came with them. At the word chaos, he paused and considered something before breaking out into low cackles. _Chibi said that no one but us knows about Silhouette. Keh, wonder how the World's Greatest Hitman and so-called_ ** _Master of Chaos_** _would react to knowing that there's been an alien running around right under his nose for_ ** _thirty d***** years_** _without his ever knowing._ Somehow, the thought made Squalo feel more cheerful. Slightly.

The alcohol worked better.

.

.

* * *

.

.

Far away in Japan, Reborn sneezed, provoking a concerned reaction from his ex-student/current Vongola Boss. Reborn waved off the concern with threats of more paperwork and privately wondered who was talking about him. And why he had the oddly ominous, unexpected feeling that he was missing something big.

He'd better patrol the area. Just in case.


	7. Seventh Stanza: What Never Was Pt-2 (M)

**FINALLY finished with this one-shot. Have it. I hope you enjoy it because I worked so hard on it and just ... ugh. I am so DONE with this chapter. I am NOT doing an Arcobaleno-centric one-shot for a while after this because they are just ... so hard to write. Ugh. Anyway, this chapter is officially M-RATED for angst, death, and possible gore content. This is a chapter about how the Arcobaleno died and how Skull is done with it all, basically. I tried to interject some humor at the end, but I think it fell flat and at this point I don't really care. The next one-shot will be Driver's Ed, Tenth Generation style and that is bound to make up for my failed humor quota in** **this chapter.**

 **Review Response: Dear AyameKitsune, greetings! I'm glad you liked it! I hope you think this story is still epic after this chapter...**

 **Dear buterflypuss, greetings! So happy to hear it!**

 **Dear sunbeam0943, hello there! Aw, I'm glad you think so! I hope you still enjoy this chapter even though it's so ... serious.**

 **DearCyber-Kanochi, hi there! So glad you enjoy it! I have every intention of continuing this story, it just ... takes me a while sometimes.**

 **Dear mokona-pyuh, hi! (cackles) those were my favorite moments to write in that chapter. The Reborn bit at the end was part funny, part hinting at reveal, but more meant to just be humorous. Aw, that makes me smile. I hope you enjoy the update, even if it isn't a humorous one.**

 **Dear StepOnLego14, hey there! It was my pleasure!**

 **Dear Rune, greetings! (tips hat) thank you for your compliments, I'm glad this story is so enjoyable to you! Hmm, we'll see some of Skull breaking the other Arcobaleno's brain in this chapter, though probably not as much as either of us would like ... eh, maybe next time.**

 **Dear cherry-888, hello! (grins) Or at least a VERY healthy respect/wariness for them.**

 **Dear Shiva, hi there! Well, I'll take that as a sign that my work is done here (winks).**

 **Dear Kidor, hello! Those are all very good ideas that I might get around to later (the Reborn/Femme pre-curse shenanigans is particularly intriguing) but you'll have to wait at least until I've finished the next one I already have planned. Thank you for the suggestions!**

 **Dear chibichibi98, greetings! That's very flattering to know, thank you! (tips hat) hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **Dear AnimeQueen99, hello there! Uh ... maybe. But I would have to hunt down the manga issue(s) that arc is in because I've never actually read that arc and my local bookstore has a very tiny manga section. But we'll see, it might happen someday.**

 **Dear God is Gracious, hiya! (tips hat) I try.**

 **Dear the Kahjiit Ra'Koor, hey there! That is a very high compliment, thank you! As stated before, I fully intend to continue this series, it just takes a while because I have so many other stories to juggle and Real Life likes to clock in and knock me flat at inconvenient moments.**

 **Dear nikkali44, heya! Thank you for your patience, I hope you enjoy this chapter despite its much more serious tone. The one after this should (hopefully, maybe) have more Transformers in it.**

 **Dear Kiri Namikase, hello! (tips hat and winks) Then I have done my job correctly.**

 **Dear fernandfeather, greetings! Well, since enough people have requested it ... yes. I have adapted the censoring to a format that is hopefully easier on the eyes and reading flow. But I'm not altering it any further than that, it's uncomfortable for me to write it as it is. I hope you enjoy it though!**

 **Dear Wolf1989, hello there! Glad you like it! Yep, I have more chapters planned for this story and no intentions of giving up on it! I know Cloud Hopping, it's actually the story (and authoress) who inspired me to create this crossover in the first place. Cloud Hopping is a lovely story.**

 **Dear tosca, hi! Glad you think so!**

 **Dear BlueMew34, hey there! So thrilled to hear it!**

 **Dear Guest, greetings! Agreed! Skull is one of my favorites. Lucky you, this entire chapter is (angsty) Arcobaleno-centric! With a few minor Byakuran appearances thrown in because he's a scary troll like that. Enjoy!**

 **Dear Rin-isobu-walker, hello there! I'm so glad you like this story! Stanza is a poetry term used to refer to a set of lines or verses in an overarching theme/narrative. Since the title of the story is Ballad, which is a type of poem (or a song), which is made up of several stanza's, I thought it was more appropriate than a simple "Chapter X". As for Arcobaleno reveals ... read on (gestures grandly).**

 **Dear SeiryuNoAme, hey there! The Representative Battles would be very tricky for me as I've never read them and don't own the manga. But it would be interesting to do so someday in the future, so we'll see. If I did do it though, I would TOTALLY team up Skull and Viper with the Varia as their backup team (they did have teams didn't they? I'm not sure). Varia stand together after all. And the looks on everyone's faces when the two hit the field would be priceless.**

 **Dear , hello! (snickers) Kinda, yeah. Poor Squalo right?**

 **Dear MercurialMenace, greetings! Happy to hear it! I had too much fun messing with the Varia's heads.**

 **Dear Alec Castairs, hey there! ... And people like you, dear reader, is why I kept hammering away at my writer's block until I had something to post. Because you have NO IDEA how flattering it is to know that you liked my story enough to reread it multiple times. Seriously. I hope you enjoy the update!**

 **Dear aaa, hello! While I thrilled you like this story so much and I have every intention of continuing it, I will not be shifting it out of its drabbles format. Mostly because, while I enjoy the characters, I don't have enough plot notes/inspiration to make it a long interconnected narrative. I have scenes and pieces I want to write, but literally nothing to tie them together. So, unfortunately, drabbles they shall have to stay.**

 **Dear Smoukii, bonjour! So ... I ran your comment through Google Translate and will respond accordingly, please forgive any errors on my part in responding, because I do not speak/read French and Google Translate is, well, Google Translate. That disclaimer out of the way: I so happy you like this story enough to re-read it! Wolf is an amazing writer, I'm just really glad she let me adopt this little beauty. I fully plan to continue this collection, I just got hit with multiple bouts of Writer's Block and scheduling hiccups. But here's an update at last! I hope you enjoy!**

 **Dear CakeVengeance, hey there! Tada! Update as requested! But be warned, this chapter is very much NOT hilarious. It is M-Rated for angst, death, and gore, actually ... not sure how that happened, but here we go.**

 **Author's Note: So, again, THIS CHAPTER IS M-RATED FOR CHARACTER DEATH, ANGST, AND EVERYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH THOSE CONCEPTS! So don't blame me if this story makes you feel sad, because you have been warned. With that out of the way, on to the next explanation. Namely, this chapter was not meant to be nearly as angsty as it is ... but this IS a chapter focusing on the Arcobaleno receiving their future memories and they did all die in that future (barring Lal, who had to live with survivor's guilt and that's not all that much better, honestly). I meant for it to be Skull's reveal of her true power/epicness to the Arcobaleno, but for that I needed a reason for her to suddenly get pushed over the supposed edge, which led to me deciding to use the stress of the memory dump as the trigger, which in turn led to detailing all of the Arcobaleno (minus Viper, since she's technically Varia now and I was already so frustrated with this chapter) getting their memories of the Future-That-Never-Was up to and including their deaths. So ... yeah. Buckle up for a wild ride. The one-shot after this should be much more light-hearted, but I don't know when it will be up as I technically haven't even started it yet. Hope you enjoy anyway!**

 **Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own KHR, Transformers, or any references made in this story. The only things I own are my interpretations of the characters, my OCs, and the plot.**

* * *

 **.**

 **Seventh Stanza: What Never Was Pt 2**

 **.**

 **Year: 2004. Season: Late Summer/Early Fall. Country: Varied. Age: Cursed.**

 **.**

 **Order of Death: Colonnello, Verde, Fon, Mammon, Reborn, Skull.**

.

Fon was meditating in the large rock garden of one of the many Hibari estates. The moon hung overhead, casting dim lighting and long shadows across the stones and raked pebbles. The area was peaceful, relaxing. With each deep breath, Fon could feel the tension he had gained from his latest mission drain away.

 _"_ _Oi, Lackey. You're late."_ The crisp snap of Reborn's voice made Fon open his eyes in surprise. He hadn't sensed the other Arcobaleno at all, and Reborn had **never** dared to call Fon "Lackey" before.

An empty rock garden with no signs of a certain chaos-loving Sun greeted his gaze and Fon blinked in surprise. However, as soon as his eyes had opened again, the rock garden was gone. It was suddenly mid-afternoon in one of the many secret locations in which the Arcobaleno held their annual meetings. Lal stood only a few feet away, a disinterested expression on her face as she watched Reborn and Colonnello loom over a flailing Skull while the latter made squeaky excuses about how someone as awesome as "the Great Skull-sama" was never late.

Alarm flooded Fon's veins and he stood up sharply, his Storm flames surging to the surface as he sought to pinpoint the source of what had to be an illusion, _What is going on? Who is attacking m-_

Pain bloomed behind Fon's eyes as he tried to burn away the illusion but failed and instead was pulled deeper in.

 **.**

 **.**

 _A low click of irritation signaled Viper gliding forward, effortlessly placing themselves between Skull and his tormentors, "Leave Skull alone. You are wasting time and time is money." Fon felt a faint frown of puzzlement crease his forehead._ _Since when had Viper cared about Skull enough to intervene? Did Skull pay Viper to step in?_

 **.**

 **.**

Fon swayed as his view changed back to show the rock garden again, a thousand thoughts buzzing through his mind before more in-depth … illusions? Hallucinations? Memories? pulled him under again. _No- stop- what-?_

 **.**

 **.**

 _That strange happenstance was the start of many over the years. Little moments of intervention that made no sense, the fact that the two began to arrive at the same time, and the way Reborn's and Colonnello's rates spiked every time they tried to abuse Skull in Viper's presence. Then came the day Colonnello and Reborn had asked how much they would have to pay to know the reason_ ** _why_** _. The illusionist had actually flared their Flame threateningly in response and snapped out something Fon had never dreamed would ever come out of their mouth._

 _"_ ** _That information is not for sale_** _."_

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

Fon tried to shake his head, but found that his body was no longer his to control. His knees went out from under him and he doubled over, his Flames lashing out wildly in an attempt to shake off whatever was doing this to him, was showing him these things that had never happened.

The pain behind his eyes grew exponentially the more he fought against the images now flooding his mind, yet nothing he did seemed to slow the progress of the invasion.

 **.**

 **.**

 _Realization came one day, clear and sharp and earth-shattering, when he dropped by the Varia Castle to buy some intel from Viper._

 _He hadn't even made it through the gate when he had felt it, the savage roar of Wrath Flames, hot against his skin and screaming of danger. Fon had hesitated at the gate, unsure as to whether he should enter and investigate or leave the Varia to whatever their problem was._

 _Then Cloud flames had spiked in a silent screech of defiance and Fon felt himself_ ** _move_** _because he_ ** _knew_** _those Flames, had fought beside those Flames. Those were_ ** _Skull's Flames_** _and even if the they had never really been anything other than fellow Arcobaleno, that was bond enough to intervene and keep Skull from getting massacred by the Varia Head._

 _Fon had sprinted as fast as his accursedly small legs could carry him, ignoring the startled Varia grunts and the irritated yell from one of Xanxus's officers. His focus remained riveted on the whirling Flames, his own Storm rising in preparation to fight and defend because —World's Strongest Cloud or not— this was_ ** _Skull_** _. Their youngest, their weakest, their pushover, their ex-civilian circus kid and there was no way he could survive a fight against the Varia Sky-_

 _Then Fon rounded the corner and his world-view shattered at the same time as the castle wall Xanxus had just been flung through._

 _Fon slid to a stop, his normally serene expression gone, replaced by a disbelieving gape as he watched Xanxus hurtle out of the broken wall, X-Guns blazing, and clash with the tiny form of Skull again and again in a whirlwind of Flames and maniacal laughter._

 _Fon stared and stared and then stared some more. His Storm Flames rippled, trying to disperse an illusion he was certain had to be there because there was no way he was watching Skull spar with the leader of the Varia, let alone_ ** _hold his own_** _against said leader while laughing like he was actually having_ ** _fun_** _._

 _"_ _Mou~, is there any particular reason you're here, Fon? If not, I'm charging you for admission to observe the match." Viper's voice broke through Fon's haze and he switched his incredulous stare to the information specialist._

 _"…_ _Viper, tell me that is one of your illusions and Skull is not_ ** _actually_** _holding his own against the head of the Varia, who is arguably the most powerful Sky known to the Mafia aside from young Tsunayoshi and Yuni."_

 _Viper's lips twisted downward in something that might have been a suppressed smirk, "I do not sell false information, Fon."_

 _Fon looked back at the fight, his disbelief increasing, "So then…?"_

 _Viper sounded … almost sympathetic as they replied, "After Skull Harmonized with Xanxus, he decided to stop hiding the extent of his abilities while on the castle grounds."_

 _Fon's sharp gaze flicked back and forth across the field, analyzing every attack and counter even as he felt his world tilt ever farther out from under him at the realization that Skull had apparently_ ** _Harmonized with Xanxus_** _. Even more unsettling than that was the fact that Fon_ ** _didn't know what martial art style Skull was using_** _. Considering that the martial arts was his Flame Obsession and he had been learning as many different styles as possible for years before the Curse and then after that had had three extra decades with which to at least memorize an overview of the different styles…_

 _"…_ _Oh." Was all he could think to say as Xanxus slammed his foot into Skull's midriff —had Fon just heard ribs breaking? Great Budda he had, this sparring match was getting far too intense— only for Skull to retaliate by grabbing said same foot and slamming Xanxus into the ground hard enough to form a crater._

 _"_ _Oh." Viper echoed sagely, their tone informing Fon without excess words that Viper had had the same —or at least a similar— reaction to learning of what Skull could really do._

 _At that moment, Fon realized that he was not, in fact, the most patient and level-tempered of the Arcobaleno._

 _Because if he was, then Reborn, Colonnello, Lal, and Verde would have been beaten into the ground_ ** _decades_** _ago for all of their abuse._

 **.**

 **.**

The images came faster, so thick and strong that nothing he did could give him control over them. A thousand and one pictures, sounds, smells, and thoughts flooded over him, pushing past his Storm flames and mental shields by sheer force of numbers.

 **.**

 **.**

 _Tsunayoshi, Reborn's surprisingly brave little student, becoming Vongola Decimo. The pride he had felt watching the ceremony from the shadows, not just for the young Sky who had so much promise, but for his precious grandchild standing loyally by Tsunayoshi's side despite the crowd around them._

 **.**

 **.**

 _I-Pin unlocking her Flames and the relief Fon had felt when Tsuna had Harmonized with her in an instant, ensuring that the Triads would never be able to claim her again. That she had a Sky that Fon_ _knew_ _would never send her on missions that would break her still childish soul._

 **.**

 **.**

 _His budding friendship with Skull, cautious at first, but quickly growing into something strong and sincere as they found worthy sparring partners and tea_ _debaters in each other._

 **.**

 **.**

 _Little Yuni. So small and innocent yet also so old already, weary from the fatal burden she carried and the knowledge of things yet to come in her mind. Burdens she should not have had to carry because she was just a child —a real child, not a cursed one like them—. The renewed hatred Fon had felt for the pacifiers that chained them, the pacifiers that would snuff out the precious budding Sky in front of him no matter how much his instincts Raged and his Flames reached out to caress hers in protection._

 **.**

 **.**

 _Happy times with little Yuni despite her burdens. Despite the shadow that would pass through her eyes sometimes when looking at one of them, especially Skull. Carefree times with I-Pin, his second child in all but blood, as she grew and learned and flourished under Tsunayoshi's wing. Good times with those he had come to see as family and home and who maybe, just maybe, could be trusted with his greatest secret._

 **.**

 **.**

 _Then everything started to go wrong. Yuni left, joined another famiglia and cut all ties with the rest of the Arcobaleno. Even Viper had been unable to explain the sudden change, been unable to find out why._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 _Vongola mansion going up in flames. An unprovoked, unseen, bitterly painful betrayal because_ ** _Yuni's_** _famiglia had been the one to do it and why? Why would the sweet little child he knew allow such a thing?_

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 _Death. Betrayal ever more painful as first Colonnello and then Verde were hunted down and killed like animals. Skull's Rage, her pain at losing parts of her Territory while Fon's Storm snapped and lashed out with grief and sympathy._

 **.**

 **.**

 _Poison. In the air, in his lungs, in his very bones and Flames despite his efforts to burn it out. Only the helmet Skull sent him was able to protect him, and even then all it could do was slow the process. But Fon kept going, kept clinging to life because he couldn't leave yet. Not yet. Not when I-Pin still needed a teacher. Not when Tsunayoshi needed every ally he could get in the shadow war the Vongola was losing. Not when he knew that An-Chen —his precious wife and lover and childhood friend An-Chen— would never forgive him if he gave up or did something stupid that got him killed because he was her last, her only, and she was his to protect and shield in his Storm's Eye no matter the cost._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

The flood of memories —because they had to be memories, they were too detailed and resistant to his Flames to be anything else— halted for a moment, hesitated on the edges of his mind, unwilling to show him how it ended. Fon was dimly aware of the rock garden again, of An-Chen's presence by his side, her Flames soothing and whispering against his as she tried to find what was wrong with him, what had hurt him.

Realization swept through Fon, his breath hitched, and he reined in his Flames before reaching out to the presence that had been forcing memories-that-never-were into his mind. _How do I die?_ He asked softly, resigned and sad yet accepting that that must be the outcome of these strangely broken yet vivid memories.

Taking his question as permission, the presence loosed the last of the memories and Fon was pulled under into something worse than he could have ever imagined.

 **.**

 **.**

 _He had been on a mission for Tsunayoshi when it happened. The light that had held him in place —anchored him and kept him sane through every trial— had flared brilliantly with rage. Fon had frozen in mid-motion, eyes snapping in the direction the bond led, heart stuttering with fear in his chest as the rage grew and pain blossomed. He wasn't sure how long he stood there, mentally calling, then shouting, then screaming across the bond while the only response he received was_ rage-pain-hate-regret.

 _Then, just as Fon thought his terror could not get any worse, something cold ripped through him and for a moment he_ ** _saw_** _. He saw An-Chen —his precious, precious wife and lover and confidant and_ ** _Sky_** _,_ ** _An-Chen_** _— lying on the street with the many bodies of enemies around her …. and the long narrow blade of a scythe speared through her heart._

 _She had reached across the bond for him, cradling him with her Flames one last time with jumbled feelings and thoughts of_ I'm-sorry-I'm-so-sorry- **I-love-you-My-Storm-** _and then the vision had faded, pain ripped through his Flames like he was the one who had just been stabbed-_

 _And then Fon's Sky fell and the world around him dissolved in red fire._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

Fon came back to the present with tears streaming down his face and his throat raw from screaming. The rock garden, once so elegant, was in ruins, the ground turned to glass and the larger rocks reduced to ash in the wind as his Flames Raged with the remembered agony of _gone-gone-my-Sky-_ ** _not-my-Sky_** _-give-her-back-_ ** _gone-gone-_**.

Arms cradled him fearlessly and there was a desperate, wild rush of w _armth-home-safety-love-not-gone-still-here-_ that finally caused his Flames to still and his mind to clear of the haze of What-Never-Was. Fon lay there in his wife's — **his Sky's** , not gone-still-alive— arms and trembled. His hands —too tiny, too young-looking, not worthy of the one who stood by his side despite his curse— clutched the fabric of her nightclothes, clinging to the sensation of her Flames, the sound of her heartbeat. He clung without words, trying to forget the memory of how it felt for those very same things to cease to exist.

 **.**

 **.**

* * *

 **.**

 **.**

Verde studied the screen in front of him. His keen eyes picked through the rolling lines of data and code before him, expertly singling out and correcting any flaws or potential mistakes. It was well past midnight, but Verde didn't care. He knew exactly how many hours of sleep his body required per 48 hours in order for his mind to function adequately and he was still within that limit.

But then he blinked and the screen in front of him had changed into something else entirely. He stared in surprise at the schematics on his screen, both puzzled and frustrated that his computer had somehow switched windows without his consent. He glanced down at his keyboard, intent on rectifying the matter, but when he looked up again, his screen was back to the original window. _What?_ The first time, he had thought that perhaps he had accidentally switched the windows himself, similar things had happened before. But now, when his fingers had yet to touch any keys and the screen had once again changed, Verde came to an alarming alternate conclusion.

His firewalls had somehow been breached and his projects were now at risk of being compromised.

Verde's jaw tightened even as a smirk played on his lips and he reached for one of the many switches on his personalized chair to unleash his security systems on the idiot who had invaded his island and hacked into his off-grid network.

Pain seared through his head a moment later, so sharp and unexpected his hands flew to his temples while a shocked cry escaped his throat. Things flickered before his mind's eye, impressions, data, thoughts that were not his own all tried to take over his psyche and convince him he was living them rather than experiencing some kind of mental attack.

 **.**

 **.**

 _Schematics, statistics, data, Flames. Everything finally clicked together and the work of several years, the reluctant collaboration with Innocenti and Koenig, finally paid off in the form of the baffled Lightning Crocodile in front of him. Not a prototype like the others, but full and complete. They had done it,_ ** _he_** _had done it, and now he could use the profit this would bring to fund his other, more important projects like-_

 **.**

 **.**

Verde grabbed his arm in a vice grip and squeezed. The pain grounded him as he struggled against the intrusion, _not real. Stop. It is fake. Like a virus, feeding false data, just sound the alarm and let the robots take care of whoever's doing this._ He reached for the switch, mentally reciting every formula he knew of in order to ground him against the assault even as he swore painful revenge on whoever dared to attack his **mind**.

His fingers just barely brushed the needed switch when something slipped past his formulas and-

 **.**

 **.**

 _Skull and Viper were acting strangely together at the meetings. An inconsequential detail, though vaguely intriguing as Mists and Clouds were not known to willingly mingle unless there was a Sky there to mediate. Then again, the Cloud was Skull, and Skull had always been an aggravating and pathetic outlier to the norm. Far too civilian and Inverted to be of any use to his research and thus, below his interest as anything other than a test dummy for his latest inventions._

 **.**

 **.**

 _Tsunayoshi had become Vongola Decimo. An interesting turn of events, if inconsequential. A pity though, he would have liked to have more opportunities to study the boy's Sky Flames and his brat Lightning. The effects of Flame Seals on developing Flames were always interesting —especially when no when else could recognize the symptoms and just kept pushing the young Flame to greater struggles—, and the ability of the brat Lightning was wasted on such a dim and immature mind. Ah well, perhaps he could take the Decimo up on his offer to "visit" the Vongola labs at a later date as an excuse to run some discreet tests on Reborn's ex-student._

 **.**

 **.**

Verde grit his teeth, struggling against the _wrong-wrong-wrong_ and the unreality that was trying to overtake him. He had to make it stop. A Mist was doing this, had to be, he had to find them and eliminate them before they moved on from childish ploys of artificial memories and attempted to actually kill him.

But the images wouldn't let him go.

 **.**

 **.**

 _Everything was going wrong. Verde grit his teeth as he watched another one of his base beacons go down and realized grimly that perhaps he should have listened to Viper when they came and told him that the attacks on the Vongola were a sign of things to come. A sign that allies —even distant ones held together only by their shared title of Arcobaleno— should pool their resources and brace for the oncoming storm._

 _He had scoffed at the time. He needed no Famiglia to protect him. He had his funds, his machines, his research, his contingencies, and his mind. Why would he need a collection of fools that would try to chain him down and use his research for their own ends without his permission?_

 _But now his bases were being mysteriously raided. Destroyed by the very same technology he had helped to create and had sold for a mere pittance compared to the worth of his other research. Innocenti was dead, hunted down by the Famiglia that now appeared to be intent on finding Verde._

 _He would have to step up his security measures again, install new safe houses, rearrange his contingencies to account for the use of his own inventions against him. He would be fine. It would be an annoying setback, but he would be fine._

 _Verde had always been a little too good at lying to himself for the sake of his pride._

 **.**

 **.**

 _Stop! Stop!_ Verde could only dimly hear the blare of his base alarms from where he was doubled over in his chair. He had finally managed to flip the alarm switch but he couldn't find it in himself to care at the moment. His heart-rate had accelerated and he was beginning to perspire as he tried to fight off the images that threatened to drown his mind. It wasn't real. None of it was real. Whoever the Mist was that had gotten in and thought this was somehow a **funny** way to complete their job was going to get a harsh lesson on why Verde was known as the World's Greatest Scientist.

These weren't actually memories, these weren't actually his thoughts, his mistakes, his emotions. These were nothing more than a distraction and an attack that would be dealt with. He would never be put on the run by his own inventions, he had too many failsafes imbedded into his product codes for that to happen.

Verde had always been a little too good at lying to himself for the sake of his pride. But this time…

It wasn't working.

 **.**

 **.**

 _The toxin in the air was specific to the biological makeup and Flame signature of the Arcobaleno. He had tried every cure and technique that had or could be invented, but nothing he did could completely stop the burning invasion in his lungs._

 _Perhaps if he sealed himself in a vacuum-proof vault with sextuple-filtered oxygen containers supplying him with air, but that would require material he did not have, time he could not afford, and a stationary existence that would prove his undoing._

 _His hunters were getting closer. Every contingency failed within weeks of implementation, every safe-house was uncovered, every lab destroyed. It was as if his hunters knew what he planned to do before he did it, before he even thought of it._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 _Verde lay on the floor of what used to be his last lab. His chest rose and fell futilely in an automatic effort to gain air despite the fact that he could feel one collapsed lung and a debilitating level of Flame depletion pinning him down. Around him were the surviving members of the Millefiore's attack force. They watched him, wary of approaching the man who had created their weapons and destroyed over half their force with his private inventions and his own bare hands even though he now lay dying._

 _"_ _Hmmm…" The musical hum and the sound of measured footsteps dragged on Verde's senses, interrupted his trance of pain and disbelief and denial. Murmurs rose from his hunters and even before white hair and glittering purple eyes came into view, Verde knew who it was that was to be his final executioner._

 _Byakuran Gesso, co-leader of the Millefiore Famiglia, smiled down at him in a way that was disturbingly innocent. Childish almost. Like a boy who had just discovered a new toy. His head tilted to one side a bit as he studied Verde, "Six months, seven days, eight hours, and fifteen minutes. That's longer than_ ** _any_** _of the others lasted, Verde-kun. I'm_ ** _impressed_** _."_

 _Verde had no air or mental faculties left for cursing at the man. He barely had enough left in between frantic —futile— escape plans to wonder who Byakuran meant by "others". Colonnello had been the only Arcobaleno killed by the Millefiore as of yet. But the way Byakuran had emphasized "any" clearly indicated he meant more than one individual. Had Verde truly been so desperate and hounded that the other Arcobaleno had fallen without his notice? Surely not._

 _Byakuran broke through Verde's spinning thoughts by running delicate, Sky-tipped fingers along Verde's pacifier. Verde felt his body gasp without his consent at the tingle of warmth that ran through his body and felt a flash of terror that could not be dismissed by his iron control and scientific mind. This man was his hunter, his hounder, his killer … and yet his Sky felt open, welcoming, kind. There was no hostility, no mocking edge, no teeth-grinding sensation of chains. Sky Flames caressed his faltering Lightning with all of the love and care of a Sky Courting a favored element, not of an enemy standing over his fallen target._

 _"_ _Poor Verde-kun." Breathed Byakuran as his Sky Flames curled gently around Verde, holding him in place despite his struggles with its hypnotic quality. "While I am grateful for your priceless work Verde-kun, I'm a big fan actually, I'm afraid I need this." Slender fingers wrapped around Verde's pacifier and the scientist could feel himself choke on something, either words of protest or his own blood, he couldn't quite tell._

 _Sky Flames pressed closer, still as open and friendly and kind as before, caressing his Lightning soothingly even as Byakuran leaned close and whispered in Verde's disbelieving ear, "I'll just borrow it for a while, ne?" For a moment, the Sky swallowed Verde whole and he caught a glimpse of what it might have been like to have a Sky to call home-_

 _Then Byakuran yanked the pacifier clear from its chain and Verde was left without even the power to scream. Byakuran said something else, but Verde couldn't hear him, couldn't see past the pain, couldn't bring himself to care as Byakuran and his men went away._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 _It took five minutes for Verde to die. A combination of drowning in his own blood and the loss of his Arcobaleno pacifier finally halting the mind that had been called the Brightest._

 _The last things that passed through the mind of the World's Greatest Scientist were all impressions of disbelief, Sky Flames, and of the insanity that it took for a man to be able to murder another even while the very expression of the murderer's soul earnestly offered his victim a home._

 _._

 _._

Verde came back to himself curled on the floor at the foot of his chair, alarms blaring in his ears and the lights flickering under the force of his Lightning Flames as he screamed.

 **.**

 **.**

* * *

 **.**

 **.**

Colonnello sat on his favorite overlook, silent and unnoticed by the rest of Mafia Land as he relaxed. He had taken a day off from putting mafia hopefuls through his tortur- ahem, **training** regimen in the hopes that a day away from their whining would give him inspiration on how to make his obstacle courses more interesting. So far, he'd had no luck on that front, but at least he'd enjoyed having a day to himself for once.

To be honest, Mafia Land was becoming … a bit boring. He enjoyed the work, he really did, but sometimes the chaos of the moving island seemed less chaotic and more formulaic than anything else. This idiot Mafioso picks a fight in the street with that idiot Mafioso, brawl ensues, brawl is brought to an end via judicious application of sniper bullets after brawl encompasses more than two city blocks. Hospital staff either complains about having to patch up the idiots again or complains about having to treat the trainees who get too big for their boots and try to one-up Colonnello and get thrown into the crocodile pit instead. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Then, of course, once a year some up-and-coming —or not-so-up-and-coming— famiglia tries to invade an island that is the defended neutral territory of the entire underworld and known home of one of the Arcobaleno. Colonnello's trainees prove that as badly as they suck compared to him, they can still kick the butts of anyone who tries anything. Invaders are demolished, ferry schedules are redone, normal routine is restored, wash, rinse, repeat on an annual basis.

He supposed he shouldn't complain —at least he wasn't stuck babysitting CEDEF like poor Lal—, but sometimes he really missed the thrill of doing the impossible with the other Arcobaleno. Missed taking missions that no one else could hope to complete and then watching the world scratch its head after they had pulled it off.

 _"_ _You really are an idiot. Stop wasting time with foolish wishes. Time is money."_ Colonnello jerked in surprise and looked over his shoulder at the unexpected sound of Viper's voice. But there was no one there.

Colonnello frowned as he stood up and braced his sniper rifle over the back of his shoulders, "Viper? Stop messing around, kora. If you want to talk to me, then show yourself. And don't read my mind, kora! It's freaky!" There was no response from Viper and Colonnello wondered for a moment if he had imagined it. His pacifier hadn't reacted to another Arcobaleno being near it, but then again he knew that Viper had ways of getting around that. "Viper?"

A blink, a heartbeat of time and Colonnello wasn't in Mafia Land anymore. He was at one of the annual Arcobaleno meeting places, watching in bafflement as Viper got between him and Skull, "Desist. You are wasting time harassing Skull and time is money."

Colonnello shook his head, suddenly back in Mafia Land with his rifle in his hands and its safety off as he looked around, "This isn't funny, kora! Cut that sh*t out!"

There was no answer, just a tug on his mind that didn't feel like any illusion he'd felt before as something dragged his mind under without his consent.

 **.**

 **.**

 _There was something going on with Viper and Skull and Colonnello just could not figure it out. He had the distinct impression that it was something really obvious, but what that was was beyond him. They couldn't be in a romantic relationship because one,_ ** _ew_** _they were physically toddlers, and two, there were no hints to any kind of romantic or physical inclinations between the two when they were near each other. Viper would have been able to hide that kind of thing certainly, but_ ** _Skull_** _broadcast every thought that went through his head at top volume at any given moment of the day. There was no way the Lackey would be able to keep something like that a secret._

 _He didn't think Skull had the kind of funds to pay Viper to act as bodyguard, so there had to be a third possibility that Colonnello was missing. The fact that Reborn was clearly missing it too was only a minor balm to the sniper's pride as both Viper and Skull stubbornly refused to explain why they were suddenly on friendly terms._

 _At this rate, Colonnello was going to have to man up and pay Viper for the info, despite how the miserly information broker had been raising Colonnello's rates lately._

 **.**

 **.**

 _Wait- stop- when was this?_ Colonnello staggered and his gun fell from his hands as a migraine bloomed through his temples. He had no time to fight it, his Rain Flames could do nothing against the quick, brutal onslaught of foreign images —memories?— that hammered into his mind.

 **.**

 **.**

 _Lal finally regaining her adult form, as beautiful as she had ever been despite her added scars. Her bright red blush when he told her as much and the smile that teased the edges of her lips made her punting him out of the fifth story window of CEDEF headquarters completely worth it._

 **.**

 **.**

 _Reborn's whiny student had actually grown up and become Decimo. Colonnello never thought it would actually happen. He had to admit the kid looked surprisingly dignified and … charismatic, standing up there in a three-piece suit with his glowing Sky gloves. Like the ghost of Vongola Primo come back to life to reclaim his Famiglia._

 _Now if Colonnello could just figure out why the Lackey was sitting on_ ** _the Varia leader's shoulder_** _without repercussion instead of on the special seats assigned to the Arcobaleno invited to the ceremony, Colonnello might actually be able to focus on Tsunayoshi's coronation, kora._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

Colonnello shook, only distantly aware that he was doubled over on his knees, Falco flapping and screeching in concern not far away as he was briefly allowed to surface from the memories. _What the actual h*ll, kora?_ The presence stuffing memories-that-weren't in his head had no answer, just more pain and confusion as he was pulled under again before he could scream for help or flare his Flames. The memories came faster, so fast they might have been out of order, but Colonnello had no time to ponder that, no time to fight against the short but brutal tidal wave that crashed through his mind.

 **.**

 **.**

 _Finding out Skull was a member of the Varia and nearly getting stabbed by the bratty Storm Prince for trying to get some well-deserved answers out of the Lackey._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 _Fon becoming friends with Skull, which was even weirder than Skull being buddies with Viper because Fon and Skull were_ ** _nothing alike_** _, so why even-?_

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 _Quitting his job in Mafia Land to accept Tsunayoshi's offer to join the Vongola after months of the Decimo discreetly —and apparently unintentionally— Flame Courting Colonnello in between reforming his crazy Famiglia and generally setting the Mafia world on its head with his tenacity and surprisingly unshakable set of morals._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 _Harmonizing with Tsunayoshi. The sheer wave of_ home-love-care-mine-home _that washed over Colonnello and made him cry unashamedly because_ _this_ _was what Luce had promised them but had never given,_ _this_ _was_ _worth_ _waiting three decades for and being trapped in the body of a toddler for the rest of his life. It was even worth being part of the same Sky as Reborn because Tsunayoshi's Flames were so wide and open and_ _free_ _that Colonnello couldn't understand how he had ever lived without it. Without a real home._

 _Perhaps best of all, Lal was there. The official liaison between the Vongola and CEDEF, being discreetly Flame Courted by the gentle Decimo who seemed to have some kind of magic technique for getting past Lal's prickly Tsundere exterior with even less bruises than Colonnello —who had been practicing for decades— received._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 _War. Something Colonnello had never wanted to experience again, especially not like this. Not with poison in the air and the betrayal of little Yuni like a knife in the back and Tsuna's tired, tired eyes as he tried to keep his Famiglia from being burned to the ground. Colonnello would do anything to put the light back in those eyes. Anything for his Sky._

 _And he did. He did anything. Everything._

 _He even died._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 _It was a simple recon mission. Get in, guard Viper while the Mist worked their magic on the Millefiore data network, get out. No hiccups in infiltration, no suspicious guards, no errant cameras, not even the pressure of suppressed coughs trying to make him heave and give away their position. It was simple, it was fine._

 _Until it wasn't._

 _Viper almost had the last of the data, but suddenly guards were everywhere and the alarms were blaring and_ ** _Byakuran himself_** _was leading the chase for them, smiling like it was all some game even after he narrowly dodged the bullet Colonnello tried to put in his eye. Colonnello held them off while Viper retrieved the last of the information they needed, firing bullet after bullet from his sniper position overlooking the area. It was time to run, but Colonnello had ditched the helmet Skull had bribed him into wearing so he could see better and now his lungs burned with the desire to just double-over and cough out the fire spreading through his body._

 _Viper dragged him to his feet and they fled, but it was trap, it had to be, because Byakuran seemed to know every move they made before they made it and the enemy was closing in with numbers even two Arcobaleno could not match. Not poisoned and caught off guard as they were._

 _Colonnello was a soldier. He would do anything for his mission, anything for his comrades, anything for his Sky. So when the choice came down to buying Viper time to get out of range of the strange anti-Mist-teleportation device Byakuran had brought or trying to flee on foot together and probably failing the mission, Colonnello didn't hesitate to take Option A._

 _Viper had put up more fight about it than he'd expected, but in the end, the Mist had been forced to agree and flee while Falco lifted Colonnello up into the air and gave him a clear view of the enemy to shoot._

 _It took five minutes for Viper to get out of range of the device and teleport away with the information, leaving behind only the promise —lie— of bringing backup as soon as possible. It took seven before an enemy sniper shot Falco out of the sky. It took fifteen before Colonnello's body finally betrayed him with a hacking fit that alerted his enemies to his newest sniping position._

 _It took twenty minutes from the moment Viper disappeared for the Millefiore soldiers to finally overrun his position, climbing over the bodies of their dead comrades and forcing him out into the open._

 _The last thing Colonnello saw before the enemy sniper that had shot Falco put a bullet in his brain was Skull and the Varia descending on the enemy soldiers like death incarnate, the Cloud tearing through enemies like they were wet paper with a savagery Colonnello had never thought Skull capable of as he tried to reach Colonnello's position and bring him home._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

Colonnello came back to himself, vomiting violently while his head and lungs throbbed with phantom pains and his hands shook from adrenaline and the jumbled thoughts of _dead-dead-I-died-how-dead-pain-_ ** _dead-I-died-_**

It took Colonnello four minutes to stop vomiting. It took three more to stop coughing and wheezing from the phantom burn of poison in his lungs and throat and mouth. It took a total of ten minutes of Falco's frantic fussing and Colonnello's own spinning mind before he staggered to his feet and practically crawled to his gun, clutching the item with shaking hands.

It took two days before he could convince himself to leave his chosen sniper nest, instincts screaming from remembered danger and the itch across his skin that tried to convince him that the enemy sniper who had put a bullet in his head was still out there, waiting for him to come into the open.

The freezing cold in his Flames, the gaping **ache** in his core that begged for _Sky-where-mine-my-Sky-where-is-my-Sky-_ stayed though, no matter what he did or what logic he applied.

 **.**

 **.**

* * *

 **.**

 **.**

The moment his feet touched the soil of present-day —or ten-years-previous, depending on how you looked at it— Namimori, Reborn braced himself for the onslaught of memories he was knew would come. As soon as he could, he separated himself from Tsuna and his Guardians and sequestered himself in an uninhabited area far enough away that any fallout would probably go unnoticed and the casualty risk was at an absolute minimum.

He knew going in that he had died, that he would end up living the memory of that death, that his death had probably been very traumatic and bloody. He had taken precautions, ensured that even if he lost control over his Flames in the process, his student and the civilian populace would remain unharmed. He believed he had everything handled. He believed he was ready.

He was so very, very wrong.

The first memory was innocuous, a subtle yet instant shift from reality to memory that caught him off guard despite himself. One moment he was standing in the middle of nowhere, breathing deeply and bracing for what was to come, and the next he was standing in one of the chosen meeting places for the annual Arcobaleno reunion, trying to wrap his head around Viper suddenly associating with and defending Skull.

Reborn focused on breathing, didn't bother trying to speak as the memory vanished as quickly as it had come, leaving him in the clearing once more. Several minutes passed in which nothing else happened, nothing changed or moved. Reborn huffed quietly. Honestly, he didn't have time to waste just waiting for the memories to dribble in-

Knives plunged into his mind without warning, deep and vicious and all-encompassing, dragging him under a sudden tidal wave of ten years worth of life experience.

 **.**

 **.**

 _Tsunayoshi finally accepting his place as a Mafia Boss, as Vongola. The preparations and the coronation ceremony that was grand enough to herald the second coming of the Primo rather than just his distant descendant. Watching Tsunayoshi stand tall and solemn with his Guardians arrayed around him and Sky Flames subtly coating the room with his presence, Reborn could almost believe the coronation was just that._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 _Gleefully tormenting his ex-student-now-Mafia-Boss with extra paperwork. Thoroughly enjoying the young Japanese high schooler's whines of despair as he had to work simultaneously on homework and authorization forms for rebuilding the broken walls of his manor. And if throwing around extra paperwork —and causing incidents that warranted that paperwork— was actually an excuse to hang around his ex-student's gentle Flames more often … well, that was his business thank-you-very-much._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 _Encountering the Lackey during a visit from the Varia to the Vongola and the bafflement and curiosity he had felt when he realized that Skull was comfortable among the bloodthirsty insanity that was Xanxus and his Elements. How bafflement had turned into full on confusion and disbelief —and also the burning need to know why— when his usual Lackey-Interrogation methods were stopped by Squalo burying his sword deep into the wood of Tsuna's desk inches from Reborn's face and roaring, "Voi! Keep your sh*tty hands off Skull, f*cker!"_

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 _A hit on Tsuna that was almost successful. The sheer_ ** _rage-rage-mine-my-Sky-_** _that pounded through Reborn's veins was a shock even to him. Though not nearly as much of a shock as when whatever experimental bullet the assassin had used caused the seal Reborn hadn't realized was on Tsuna's Flames —because no one sealed Skies, it was stupid and damaging and Skies were so rare already why would you essentially kill one off like that?— suddenly came undone and raw Sky Flames flooded through the entire Vongola Mansion and the nearby city besides like an ocean suddenly unbound by a dam._

 _Harmonizing with Tsunayoshi in that moment had been instinctual. His Sun had folded effortlessly into the suddenly boundless Sky that held nothing but freedom and trust and affection despite the blood and filth and age and cynicism in his Sun Flames. He had never thought he would Harmonize. Ever. Not after Luce's betrayal, not after he had fully realized what being the Strongest Sun truly meant._

 _Yet here it was. A home. A Sky large enough to house him and with seemingly endless room to spare. A Sky that trusted and could_ ** _be trusted_** _in return. And it was his ex-student. His hopeless case. His Dame-Tsuna._

 _Not so Dame after all, as it turned out._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

Reborn came back to the present for a handful of minutes. Long enough to realize that he was on his hands and knees with his Sun Flames licking tightly across his skin, reaching out instinctively for something he did not have. The memory of Harmonizing with Tsunayoshi was barely seconds old and already a part of Reborn was keening at its loss and **raging** at the reason why it hadn't happened earlier.

A seal.

Tsuna was **sealed**.

That explained so much and yet left so many questions because people **didn't seal Skies**. It would essentially kill the Sky —and in **many** cases actually had—, and would make their lives afterward miserable if they managed to survive the shock. A Sky could be driven to anything if sealed, even Shattering behind the seal and committing suicide or attempting mass murder from the insanity of having their essence —the essence of freedom and acceptance without boundaries— being boxed up and smothered.

He had always known that something was wrong with Tsuna but this? **This** to the descendant of the Primo? The boy with the purest Sky Flames Reborn had ever seen? What kind of idiot would **do** that? What kind of idiot would lock down Tsuna's Flames so tight and so early on in his life that the seal had become indistinguishable from Tsuna's own Flame reserves? So long ago that the seal had been so deeply rooted in place that even **Reborn** had been unable to tell it existed?

Reborn felt memories pull him under again and let them, hoping to get his answers.

 **.**

 **.**

 _After three days of feverish investigation, questions, and finally putting together the pieces of the puzzle that had never quite fit, Reborn found himself in Timoteo Vongola's retirement villa, towering over the old man despite his toddler size, his fury pressing down on the entire house like a murderous bonfire, "_ ** _You SEALED HIM!_** _"_

 _Timoteo would not meet his eyes and despite their brave front, his Guardians were shaking under the pressure of Reborn's wrath, "I did what Iemitsu and I deemed necessary at the time. Tsunayoshi was to live a peaceful civilian life, he did not need-"_

 _Reborn was barely been able to keep from roaring again, "What he did not need was having the_ ** _manifestation of his soul_** _and_ ** _will to live_** _smothered under a seal when he was a_ ** _child_** _. Leaving him with nothing but uncontrollable Sky Attraction leaking through to attract all of the enemies he_ ** _wouldn't be able to defend himself against_** _."_

 _Timoteo at least had the decency to wince, "It was not my intent-"_

 _Reborn cut him off, "It was_ ** _exactly_** _your intent. To remove the heir who had far more claim to the Vongola than your three blood sons ever could. As long as_ _that threat was removed, who cared if the largest and purest Sky this world has ever seen rotted away and committed suicide from the strain of being_ ** _chained_** _?"_

 _Timoteo straightened up, indignation in the line of his shoulders, "I had no desire to murder Tsunayoshi, Reborn, you are blowing this completely-" Reborn felt Leon morph into place in his hand with a tiny snarl, reacting to his master's fury and sudden spike of bloodlust._

 _Then gentle Sky washed over the room and Reborn felt a hand on his back, "Reborn." He tilted his head just enough acknowledge his Sky, the Sky who had been_ ** _so close_** _to snapping and shattering if Reborn hadn't been there, then probably been driven even closer to the edge because Reborn hadn't_ ** _known_** _what was really wrong with his pupil-_

 _Tsuna picked Reborn up without hesitation or care for his ex-tutor's dignity. He held him close to his chest and locked a brilliant amber gaze with Reborn's coal black as he murmured, "It's alright Reborn. It doesn't matter anymore." Reborn felt his lips twist in protest, but was cut off by a gentle, "I'm alive, Reborn. That's all that matters. Whatever Timoteo's," there was no "-san" tacked on the end, not anymore, "intentions, I am still here and I am fine. Let it go."_

 _Reborn didn't want to. He wanted to make Timoteo_ ** _suffer_** _for what he had done to Tsuna. Reborn had come to a sudden and intimate understanding of what Xanxus must feel toward the old man to make him so aggressive whenever they were in the same building and a large part of Reborn wanted nothing more than to fulfill Xanxus's wish of seeing the man_ ** _burn_** _._

 _But his Sky was asking him to let it go. Was whispering with his Flames that Timoteo simply wasn't worth it. Wasn't worth Reborn's rage or bullets or hate. Tsuna just wanted Reborn to come home with him._

 _So he did. But he did not forget the revelation of what Timoteo had done. Nor did he forgive._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

Years went by in an instant, a thousand and one things burying into his mind before he had full time to process them. Colonnello Harmonizing with Tsuna. More odd instances with Skull in the Varia. Teaching little Yuni. Lambo and I-Pin growing up.

The war between the Vongola and the Millefiore.

Tsuna dying.

 **.**

 **.**

 _Reborn had barely stayed in the hideout long enough to grab as many actual bullets as he could carry. Bianchi had tried to stop him, but he hadn't listened to her, hadn't even spoken to her. He knew the act hurt her, but it was better than opening his mouth and losing control of his fracturing Flames._

 _The others were mourning, grieving, even screaming, but they would be alright in the end. Tsuna had locked down the bond enough just before- had locked it down enough that they would survive for a long time, maybe even years, before the loss of their Sky killed them. Reborn wasn't that lucky. He didn't_ ** _want_** _to be that lucky._

 _He wouldn't have lived much longer anyway, not with the poison that only targeted the Arcobaleno coating the air. He had hung on for Tsuna's sake, because of Tsuna's hope to end the conflict and find a cure for the poison before it was too late. But now…_

 _Now Reborn didn't give a d*mn._

 _He drove out to the nearest Millefiore stronghold with only Leon for company. The little chameleon had refused to leave his side even now and a distant part of Reborn was … grateful for that. Grateful for the company even though it would mean his faithful little companion would die too._

 _As soon as the stronghold was in sight, Reborn dismounted the motorcycle he had taken and went in on foot, Leon morphing into a gun for his right hand while he carefully unholstered a normal gun in his left._

 _They never saw him coming._

 _Reborn started with the normal gun, bullets finding homes in the skulls of a score of oblivious guards before anyone even realized they were under attack. The remaining perimeter guards opened fire on him. They missed. He dodged, leaping from place to place with the unnatural strength and agility of an Arcobaleno. He returned fire. He didn't miss._

 _He kept his Flames tight under his skin until he had actually breached the compound and was surrounded by hundreds of guards and their box animals. Let the waves of enemies use up all of his normal bullets and watched their expressions turn confident as they heard his pistol click empty. They had forgotten Leon was in his other hand._

 _Reborn reminded them._

 _Flames roared into existence, writhing and screaming with the fury of dying Sun, the grief of a star whose Sky had fallen —been murdered—, and shaking the earth with the wrath of the third to last remaining I Prescelti Sette who no longer cared if he lived or died so long as he_ ** _took everyone present with him_** _._

 _That day the world was reminded of why Reborn was the World's Greatest Hitman and its Strongest Sun. Box animals and their handlers were turned to ash just by getting too close to the source of the shattering Sun Flames. Vehicles were overturned and detonated. Soldier upon soldier was turned to less than ash every time the Leon-pistol in his hand barked out an overcharged sun bullet._

 _They managed to send out a call for reinforcements —he let them do that, he_ ** _wanted_** _them to do that, to call in more fodder to_ ** _burn-burn-burn_** _— and when those men arrived Reborn burned them too. He was a pitiless monster, a star that had descended to earth still burning and in his light everything was reduced to dust. He was unstoppable._

 _Until suddenly he wasn't._

 _Reborn would never know which happened first, Leon finally dying in his hands from channelling too much unstable Sun Flames, suddenly leaving him pistol-less and off-guard for a split second, or the sniper that managed to snap off a shot that blew off Reborn's leg and a chunk of his side in one go._

 _He went down screaming in pain and fury, his Sun Flames surging higher, lashing out in all directions without a pistol to channel them. He knew this was it, he had seconds —_ ** _maybe_** _— before the sniper took another shot and blew his head off. But that didn't mean Reborn was done, far from it. These were the men who belonged to the man who had murdered Reborn's Sky. Reborn's death may have been at hand … but so was theirs._

 _His Sun Flames suddenly retreated, sank into his skin and curled up with enough heat that he could feel his skin begin to blister under the unstable intensity of his own Flames. At the last moment, just as the sniper's second bullet left the muzzle of the rifle, Reborn released his Flames in one last, massive blast._

 _There was a rush of heat, one last searing moment of pain-_

 _And then nothing._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

Reborn came back to himself, throwing up what little he had in his stomach while grass around him withered in the heatwave caused by his writhing Flames. He had somehow managed to keep them from leveling the area around him, but his throat felt tellingly raw and Leon had retreated to a safe distance at some point in the memory dump.

He pulled himself to his feet and staggered to the nearest rock to flop down against it and focus solely on breathing. One tiny hand rubbed his leg —no longer gone, no longer shot off— and he did his best to keep from making a sound. It took several more minutes before he'd reined in his Flames enough for Leon to come skittering back and curl around his neck as a fluffy scarf. Reborn wrapped his free hand carefully around the living green scarf, trying to organize ten years worth of new intel and make a plan on how to better prepare Tsuna for what was to come.

If anyone had known to ask him later, he would have said that the next several days were spent in seclusion only to better plan and prepare to set new chaos in motion.

If anyone had known to ask Leon —and been able to understand the chameleon—, he would have spoken of days of nothing but coffee, minimal food, sleepless nights, and a single, mysterious phenomenon of rain falling from only beneath the brim of signature black fedora with a yellow band.

Reborn reappeared a week and a half later, scaring the already worried Tsunayoshi half-to-death by hanging upside-down in a spider cosplay and demanding to know if Tsuna had done his math homework yet. When the answer turned out to be the expected, "Hieeee! N-no?" He proceeded to scare Tsunayoshi even more by teaching him math without the threat of explosions or bullets for the first time ever. The fragile bout of normalcy lasted only as long as Tsuna didn't comment on it. The moment he did, a bullet whipped past his hair and buried into the bedroom wall, and chaos promptly resumed its invasion of Tsuna's once-normal life.

And if Reborn whisked Tsuna away without informing the Vongola to go see an old asian Flame Seal expert a few days later, and if a few days after that Tsuna came back far more settled and coordinated than he had been since he was five … well. That was Reborn's business now wasn't it?

Just like it was **Timoteo's** and **Iemitsu's** business to deal with the sudden outbreak of Mist pranks and the angry ghost scaring their guards with its ethereal "ku-fu-fu-fu-fu".

 **.**

 **.**

* * *

 **.**

 **.**

Lal Mirch was enjoying a rare day off. Not rare because she didn't usually get them —she took a week off every six months without fail— but because she was actually **enjoying** herself. There were no unexpected disasters to call her back early, there were no idiots following her with last minute paperwork, no rookies thinking they could take her on, no adults coming up to her and talking down to her because they thought she was a lost child… She was camping in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but herself, her gear, and her fishing pole and that was just perfect.

So naturally, the world had to go and ruin it for her.

One second she was placidly watching her fishing line bob up and down in the deep waters of the lake, the next she was standing —too tall too tall, how long had it been since she was that tall?— on a rise and looking on in horror at something out of the apocalypse or the old legends of Ragnarok. Her breath hitched on smoke and shock and something that tasted distinctly like raw Flame radiation and suddenly she was back on the beach, clutching her fishing rod with white-knuckled hands.

She dropped the rod with a snarl and leaped to her feet. Angry, alert eyes searched for the source of the illusion —d*mn cocky Mists, always thinking they could pull one over on her just because she was a failed Arcobaleno—, but her probing Flames felt nothing, not even the faintest trace of Mist. Her lips twisted into a sneer, "Who's there? Get out here right now and I might not kill you!"

Still nothing. She risked a quick blink to wet her drying eyes and when she opened them, she was in one of the Arcobaleno's meeting places, watching with bemused apathy as Reborn and Colonnello began to take out their frustrations on Skull as per usual when Viper intervened and forced them to stop. It didn't really matter to her, though she was confused as to why Viper would suddenly be defending the idiot. Perhaps Skull had paid Viper to do it, that sounded like something the spineless ex-civilian would do-

Lal shook her head vigorously, _no, stop, it's a trap._ Her camp came back into view and Lal lunged for her rifle with a slew of hissed curses. Her Flames snarled and twisted and ached around her as she searched for the source of the hallucinations.

She could feel it when something intruded on her senses, entered her mind without her consent and buried her underneath a sudden slew of images and sensory data before she could retaliate.

 **.**

 **.**

 _Well. Reborn's newest student had finally done it. Ascended the Vongola throne and become Decimo, no thanks to that_ ** _idiot_** _Iemitsu. Well, maybe now that his son was a grown-*ss man and leader of men in the eyes of the underworld, Lal would stop having to deal with rants about "his adorable Tuna-fishy" and finally be able to work in peace._

 _Who was she kidding, based on the look on Iemitsu's face, this would only spawn_ ** _more_** _"tuna-fishy" rants only without the constraint of Iemitsu waiting until they were alone to do it. Now that his son was already in every mafia spotlight in the world, Iemitsu wouldn't have to worry about his words and Tsuna's position as the son of CEDEF's head putting him in danger. Being Vongola Decimo would be the reason anyone went after him now._

 _Still, Lal had to grudgingly admit that the kid could at least_ ** _act_** _properly now. With his spine held straight and his eyes flecked with soft amber that matched the low-level aura of Sky he was projecting around the room, an outsider would never guess that the kid was actually a skittish small-town high-schooler._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 _Something was up with Skull and it was driving Lal discreetly nuts. At first, Viper defending Skull hadn't been anything of note. The Lackey had paid for such intervention before. But lately Viper had been raising the prices the other Arcobaleno —barring Skull— had to pay to get any information and had even_ ** _refused_** _to sell the reason behind their odd behavior._

 _The Lackey and Viper always arrived at meetings together and lately had even been seen on Varia missions together which … just … what the h*ll? Lal knew the Varia, she was one of the few CEDEF who could walk into their mansion and get out not just unscathed but alive period. Their kind of crazy bloodlust would have a coward like Skull either running away screaming or dead in less than a minute. Or both, depending on who Skull was stupid enough to turn his back on in order to run away._

 _So why was Skull associating with the Varia?_

 _After careful investigation and an infuriating visit with Fon —the man knew what was going on but refused to say anything—, Lal found out that Skull was not just working with the Varia, but was now one of their_ ** _officers_** _. Which meant that Xanxus had chosen Skull, —_ ** _Skull_** _!— as his Cloud._

 _World's Strongest Cloud or not, Lal just could not see how someone like Xanxus could stand to Court someone like Skull. There had to be something else going on, but as there was no sign of it being detrimental to the Vongola as a whole, Lal had no reason to make it an official investigation and she had enough real cases to handle already. She rarely had enough downtime as it was without adding investigating the Lackey and his doings to her list, so the mystery went grudgingly ignored and unsolved as time went on._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 _Being Flame Courted by Decimo was … odd. Many people assumed that Iemitsu was her Sky —hah, as if the Idiot could ever support and sooth her shattered Flames— and so never tried, but the Decimo…_

 _He didn't even seem to realize what he was doing, or that he was doing everything right. As the official liaison between CEDEF and Vongola —Because Decimo refused to work with the Idiot unless the world was ending, and Lal couldn't really blame him what with Iemitsu's utter lack of professionalism around his son— she spent a lot of time in the Decimo's presence. That should have irritated her to no end. He was Reborn's student, he was an ex-civilian, he had Guardians that even the_ ** _Varia_** _thought were crazy, and he was the Idiot's blood son. That should have ticked off all the boxes for annoyance with Lal, and yet he didn't._

 _He was polite in an earnest manner that never seemed to be a lie or a cover for condescension, he was respectful but not afraid, and he was … kind. He asked about her day, not for information, but to see if she was alright. If she didn't want to talk about, he left her alone and an hour later her favorite kind of wine would be mysteriously delivered to her desk. His Sky Flames had a tendency to curl around her in welcome whenever she entered the room, but would then immediately back off before she could feel smothered or caged. The Flames would hover on the edges of the room, not pushing, just … there, in case she ever wanted them._

 _It soothed her Cloud Flames that he never pushed or corralled her, her Mist Flames perked up at his surprising discretion —not to mention his budding cunning streak—, and the tiny fragments of her Rain appreciated his welcoming calm —and laughed at his moments of Reborn-induced panic—._

 _He had already pulled Colonnello and Reborn into his Sky, so she knew he was strong enough to hold a bond with an Arcobaleno. And every time the Idiot pulled off another one of his stunts that earned the nickname, Lal considered the silent offer more seriously. Perhaps when the Decimo was a bit older and the Underworld more settled from the shock of the Decimo's reforms to the Vongola…_

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 _Something was moving in the Underworld. There were stirrings, just beyond the reach of her information network that Lal_ ** _did not_** _like. First the attack on Vongola Mansion that had come without warning, Yuni disappearing and refusing to answer any of the Arcobaleno's calls, and now this new Famiglia showing up with enough strength to back up their declaration of war against the Vongola all without CEDEF ever hearing about it until too late?_

 _Someone had played them and Lal_ ** _hated_** _being played. Something about the Don of the Millefiore made her instincts scream that she was still being played. That everything was going according to his plan —whatever that was—, no matter what success the Varia had in taking down Millefiore bases._

 _But Decimo had grown cunning over the years of his reign and Xanxus was far from an idiot. Even Iemitsu was truly_ ** _focused_** _for the first time in years, razor-edged and dangerous like he had been as a field agent before promotion and paperwork had made a moron out of him. Vongola and its alliances were truly united for possibly the first time in decades and the Millefiore were going to pay for rousing the sleeping dragon._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 _Except they didn't. There was a poison in the air killing the Arcobaleno, all of them —even Lal, who had just gotten her true form back—, and for every move the Vongola made, the Millefiore seemed to have five countermoves ready and waiting. The sheer power of the Vongola kept the Millefiore's cunning locked in a stalemate, but that kind of stalemate couldn't last. One side would have to break and both would end up in a bloodbath when it did._

 _Then the Millefiore Don asked to negotiate a truce with the Decimo. Tsunayoshi took precautions, everyone did. But Tsunayoshi was smiling and calm entering the meeting, assuring them that his Intuition knew everything was going to turn out alright and his followers had believed their Sky, believed in the Intuition that had never been wrong before._

 _Until it was, and Tsunayoshi was_ ** _dead_** _._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 _And then he wasn't dead, but was almost ten years younger and by the Flames how had Reborn taken such a cowardly little_ ** _brat_** _and turned him into the man Lal had been on the cusp of accepting as her Sky?_

 _Lal seethed throughout the boy's entire misplacement in time, and yes, probably took out her grief at losing her intended Sky on the Brat far more than necessary. But seeing the face of the man she had almost Harmonized with —the man who had been Colonnello's Sky, Colonnello's hope and anchor— contort into such childish cowardice and whining and "I don't want to be a Mafia Boss-!" Was just- just-_

 _It was too much. She was the last Arcobaleno, the only one left standing to bear witness to the falls of the others, to the true strength of the Cloud they had never listened to, to the bonds that had been broken beyond repair. Vongola was_ ** _burning_** _, the Varia were half a step away from going mad from their enraged grief at losing their Cloud officer, and all this boy cared about was going back to his own time where he could spend almost ten years in denial about his own impending death which would lead to the death of_ ** _everyone he knew and loved_** _._

 _The others told her to be patient, that the Brat would find his courage and become the Tsunayoshi that Lal had known, but the pain in her lungs, like glass-shards and splinters in her blood, told her she would not live long enough to see it._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 _But she did see it. She got to see Tsunayoshi end the man who had taken her intended Sky, saw him Rage as the Varia had Raged —as Skull would have Raged—, felt the strength of his Sky wash over her like a sunlight one last time, knowing that when she next felt it, it would be in a past that now had a forever altered future, and that everything she had seen would just be memories._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

Lal lay on the ground, clutching her rifle in a death grip and struggling to breathe. Her body felt too small, like being newly cursed all over again and her fragmented Flames **ached** with a longing she could not soothe. She struggled to sort through the myriad of new memories —because no Mist was that detailed and creative, not even Viper—, to piece everything back together in her throbbing head.

For a moment, she was glad it was over, the rush of memories was finished and she could try to move on with her life again, prepare for the things she now knew might come-

But then one more memory floated to the surface from where it had been buried. The first one to drag her under, steal her breath away for all of a second, now came back with a vengeance, as vivid as if she was living it all over again.

 **.**

 **.**

 _Lal stared out over the wreckage and tried to breathe. Not just past the smoke tickling her throat, but past the thick, burning coating of raw Flame radiation pressing against her lungs and senses. The breezes stirred the smoke that trailed up from the carnage, carrying with it a deep, horrifying silence that was so unlike a disaster area of this magnitude._

 _There should have been screams on the wind, wails of grief or pain, shouts for help or the names of missing comrades. But here there were no such sounds. Here there were only shattered buildings, still bodies, and the vicious stab of Flame radiation seeping into her bones, still carrying the phantom sensations of "rage-pain-_ ** _grief_** _-rage-_ ** _kill-you-all-_** _" that had been their owner's last thoughts and motivations._

 _She had been sent to scout out the Millefiore stronghold, to see just how strong it really was and confirm whether the rumors of Byakuran's presence there were true or not. But looking down on it now, Lal could only wonder what kind of new sin Byakuran and his men had committed to call down this kind of apocalypse on them. What army had crushed those buildings, flung bodies like limp rags, and tainted the air with the force of their Will and rage and hate and_ ** _pain_** _._

 _Lal had born witness to several death sites of strong Flame users. Seen battlefields turned a thousand times more vicious once Dying Will came into play. But this? Even Reborn's suicide march hadn't done anywhere near this much carnage._

 _"_ _You should leave before the radiation kills you."_

 _The voice jerked Lal out of her horrified trance and she whirled to face the speaker, hand falling to her box weapon- A knife whipped past her hand, barely breaking skin —but not because the user had missed, he was too skilled for that—, and Lal stared dumbly at the Varia. She hadn't even noticed them in the area, hadn't sensed their Flames amid the swirling, toxic, airborne scar of the radiation._

 _It was Rokudo's Mist brat who had spoken, the one who had become Viper's replacement after the Arcobaleno died and Rokudo chose to drop off the face of the earth again. The usually apathetic face was unnervingly still, as if it had been rendered stone rather than merely blanked by apathy. The other Varia were gathered around him, almost protectively, and Lal took a wary step back as she registered the aching, oddly defensive set in all of their shoulders —someone had hurt the Varia enough for them to show it? Impossible, surely. They were more unflappably aggressive than Fon had been calm— … but even Fon had snapped under enough pressure._

 _Xanxus sneered at her and Lal forced herself not to flinch back from the aching, wounded snap of his Wrath against her fractured Rain. The feral, brittle gleam in his eyes that warned someone was a half-step away from being slowly and brutally murdered, "You heard him, Trash. Get out of here. Your job's already been done for you."_

 _Lal straightened her shoulders and refused to back down —even though her instincts said not to push, she was an Arcobaleno, she wasn't going to be intimidated by someone half her age—, "Did you do this? You weren't sanctioned-"_

 _The Varia Storm_ ** _twitched_** _in her direction the same moment Xanxus grabbed the blonde by the shoulder to hold him in place and the Varia Sun cut her sentence off, the trademark flamboyancy and exaggerated movement replaced by a razor-edge stillness, "Tip, dearie~. Do_ ** _not_** _finish that sentence."_

 _Self-preservation instinct warred with pride and curiosity and the bull-headedness of any career officer when faced with disrespect from the lower ranks. She threw back her shoulders, refusing to be daunted and barked out, "Explain what happened here."_

 _Lal knew she had massively overstepped a line she hadn't been aware she could cross when she suddenly found herself on the ground, choking on the tainted air while Xanxus's boot dug into her ribcage and his gun pointed at her forehead before she could blink, "Don't. Give. Me. Orders. You Faithless._ ** _Weak. Blind. Trash._** _" The rest of the Varia were crowded around her, wrath and the bloodlust so bright and potent in their eyes and Flames that for a long moment she thought the Varia were going to betray the Vongola again, kill her and go rogue._

 _Then the Mist brat touched Xanxus's coat sleeve with a feather touch and something seemed pass between them without words —a Flame bond? With a Mist so young and new?—. Xanxus took a deep breath of air, then two, visibly struggling to restrain himself. Lal didn't move, didn't dare twitch for fear of accidentally bringing the tidal wave of bloodlust she could sense looming down on her head._

 _The gun shifted to point at the ground instead of her head, but the boot dug deeper into her ribcage as Xanxus leaned down and snarled in her face, "The only reason you're still breathing,_ ** _Arcobaleno Trash_** _, is because despite_ ** _everything you did_** _, you were one of_ ** _Skull's_** _."_

Were _. The word echoed in Lal's brain and something in her keened as realization struck, "Skull is…"_

 _The boot came off of her middle and the Varia Rain roughly grabbed the back of her shirt and dragged her to her feet while Xanxus grabbed her chin and forced her gaze back to the apocalypse-stricken city, "Skull went after Byakuran. Alone."_

 _There were implications to that sentence, crashing, mind-blowing, impossible implications to it that staggered Lal badly enough that she did not resist the manhandling, "I- Skull- Impossible. Skull is-"_

 _The Varia stepped away from her, as if distance would help their failing restraint, "Voi!" Snapped the Rain tightly, "Skull was the_ ** _World's f*ing_** **_Strongest Cloud_** _. What the h*ll did you think would f*ing happen when the World's Strongest Cloud finally decided to stop taking sh*t and_ ** _strike back_** _?"_

 _"_ _Shishishi," the laughter of the Storm behind her was more hollow than crazed, "she didn't. None of them did. To them Skull was just the_ ** _lackey_** _. Stupid Arcobaleno peasants never did bother to actually_ ** _look_** _at Skull."_

 _The words washed over her, but Lal couldn't make sense of them, couldn't take in the sight of the destruction below and envision little, whiny, civilian Skull as its cause._

 _The Varia left her there, on that rise, numbly staring out over the leveled city and choking on the remnants of Flames she now realized tasted bitterly, achingly familiar. One of the remaining CEDEF operatives found her an hour later and dragged her away to the nearest Sun to repair her Flame-seared lungs, but nothing they did or said could shake her bone-deep silence as Lal came to grips with what she had seen … and what she had spent decades_ ** _not_** _seeing._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

 _It would only be later, after witnessing the Varia on a joint mission, turning everything around them to ash with a brutal efficiency well beyond even their normal standards, that Lal would remember wondering why Xanxus would deign to accept Skull as his Cloud._

 _Lal would mourn that it was only after she became the last Arcobaleno that she got her answers. She would shake in a mix of self-disgust and fear as she recalled all the times she had hit Skull, insulted him, or simply stood aside and let the others do the same. Care had never really been a word the Arcobaleno used in regards to each other. They had a bond, but that bond had many times felt thin and more out of courtesy than any form of affection._

 _Lal never quite got over the realization that it was only that bond —one that Skull had always tried so hard to nurture and how-had-she-missed-that?— that kept the so-called Strongest of the Strongest from suffering the same fate as that city had. A fate that would have been more than deserved for being so blindly prideful as to abuse the World's Strongest Cloud, speak Skull's title with scorn and amusement and never stop to_ ** _think_** _what it really_ ** _meant_** _._

 _A realization far too late. There was no changing the past, and neither the dead nor the grieving wrath of the Varia cared for her apologies._

 ** _._**

 ** _._**

Lal swallowed hard, barely managing to roll onto her back and stare at the sky, turning the last memory over and over in her head on an endless loop in disbelief and … fear. World's Strongest indeed. It took hours to shake the shock from her limbs —too small, achingly too small all over again— and pack up her campsite, her vacation ash in her mouth and her solitude far too reminiscent of new-found memories she would rather not dwell on.

Being reminded that the annual Arcobaleno meeting was still happening three weeks after the memory dump was, for once, welcomed wholeheartedly. Anything to counterbalance the memories of death and destruction —of Colonnello's body being brought back missing half its skull- no don't think of that—.

Lal made a point to arrive early, even though it took yelling at the Idiot —her boss, for whom she had lost all respect now because of her future memories of Tsunayoshi and his **seal** —, but so had most of the others, so she supposed it didn't really count.

Colonnello just about had a heart attack when Lal hugged him tight the moment she saw him, but Lal had spent too many years pretending not to feel the way she did —pretending and pretending until it was too late and he was gone-gone-gone— to let embarrassment stop her as it had before. Her actions did not attract any teasing though. All of the Arcobaleno as they arrived were noticeably changed. Fon was less calm and more subdued, holding his tea cup just a shade too tightly to look natural and relaxed. Reborn had yet to make any snide remarks to anyone about anything —even Skull's lateness—, and Colonnello didn't ask why Lal hugged him or tease her for it, just hugged her back with all his strength.

Verde, Skull, and Viper did not show up for another hour. Lal had just begun to wonder what had detained the two Varia Officers —or if their Sky would even allow them to come— and if Verde was coming at all when the far wall exploded and something small, green, and sparking Lightning Flames hurtled through.

The sparking green object turned out to be Verde, haggard and wide-eyed as he lay there in a dent in the far wall and tried to re-inflate his lungs. Everyone else had maybe ten or so seconds to process the sight before there was a spike of Very Unhappy Cloud Flames™ and Skull appeared through the Verde-formed hole in the wall. A thick wave of Killing Intent flooded the room the moment Skull stepped into it and Lal cursed herself for being such a blind idiot for the past several decades that she had never had a clue that Skull possessed **this** level of power. Lal could feel her heart stuttering in her chest and knew that everyone else in the room were also suddenly finding it hard to breathe past the pressure of Cloud Flames that were basically screaming "I Am Very Unhappy" in neon letters.

Skull's helmet was off, tucked casually under one arm to reveal a face that was deceptively, scarily calm for being the source of the thick Cloud miasma in the room, "I," announced the Cloud Arcobaleno in a voice perfect for discussing the weather or the latest rise in the stock market, "have been having a very bad few weeks." Skull took several more slow, relaxed steps into the room, seemingly oblivious to how Lal flinched the closer he came or how Fon had already evacuated to the far window sill with his precious tea set. Reborn was the only one still standing aside from Skull, but Lal could see the stress in the corners of his black eyes and knew it was only barely.

Skull tilted his head to one side and paused for a second, then added almost airily, "Actually. I've been having a bad few **decades** , on pretty much a yearly basis, and several more times during the year besides. Coincidentally, those bad times tend to coincide with these meetings. Or any time I have to deal with the majority of you for longer than ten minutes." In the background of Skull's deceptively serene ramble, Viper floated in and added the acidic curl of angry Mist Flames to the pressure holding the other Arcobaleno in place.

"And now, after three decades of dealing with all the sh*t you guys throw my way no matter **what I do for you** , I've just had another ten years of absolutely h*llish sh*t added to the things that f*ck up my sleep schedule." Lal flinched at the flippant use of curses coming from Skull. Aside from the occasional curse when particularly startled or on a very bad mission —back when they all took missions together—, Lal couldn't remember hearing Skull use actual curses. Not like this, not like the Varia always did. Skull had always used his made up ones over any real curses. Until now, anyway.

Skull was halfway across the room now, steadily approaching Verde, who had managed to extricate himself from the wall and was now looking for an escape route with wide, frazzled eyes, "I have had maybe seventy hours of sleep over these last three weeks. I am **tired**. I am **irritable**. And I am **very, very stressed out**. So imagine how I feel when I have to haul my *ss out of bed on the day **I was actually getting some rest** to go to this meeting where everyone barring Fon treats me like sh*t and the first thing that happens is Verde decides that he has the right to f*ing steal **my bike** to run **experiments on it**. **MY. BIKE**."

Verde made a dive for the window, but barely made three steps before Viper had summoned Mist vines to hold him in place. Skull didn't even seem to notice, he just kept talking with that same eerily pleasant expression on his face —and was that how he fooled them for so long? Because he was practically a Mist when it came to holding a set facial expression despite his true feelings?—, "I do not have that many rules. I am, in fact, an f*ing doormat by the standards of most Clouds. Or most mafia. Or most people in general, really. I know that. But back when we all first came together and you collectively decided I was your Lackey to harangue and cage and treat whatever way you d*mn well pleased, you all knew that I had One. Little. Rule. Just one."

Skull was suddenly in front of Verde, tiny hand fisted in his shirt collar, holding him close to Skull's face while Skull smiled politely —like someone discussing the poor house training of a dog but trying to find the humor in it—, "Don't. Touch. My. Bike. Not without my permission, not without my presence. Don't ride her, don't paint her, don't polish her, don't run your sticky hands down her, don't try to **run experiments on her**. That's it. That's my one rule. There are billions of other motorcycles in the world for you lot to f*ck up that are a lot cheaper, easier to handle, easier to replace, and **don't belong to me**. It is not a hard rule to follow."

Reborn seemed to finally shake off Skull's Killing Intent enough to take a step forward and reach for Leon despite all of Lal's mental screaming for him to just stay still and shut up —because she could still see the ruins of the city in her mind's eye, the countryside scarred by Flame radiation so powerful the land was predicted to be uninhabitable for decades—, "Lackey-"

Something whipped through the air from Skull's fingertips and Reborn hissed as his moving hand was skewered by what looked like a toothpick. Purple eyes shifted from Verde for the first time and Lal could see that they were glowing so brightly Skull's pupils were invisible beneath the gleam, "My name. Is not. **Lackey**." Skull took a deep breath, as if reining himself in, then continued, "As I was saying. I have one rule. Which Verde has now broken. I have spent four decades dealing with this sh*t. I **died** still dealing with this sh*t and you know what? I'm **done**. If all of you aren't going to wise up and figure out that I am called the World's Strongest Cloud for a **d*mn good reason**. If you **really think** that you can spend the rest of our lives walking all over **me** , walking all over my **instincts** , taking whatever you f*ing feel like even **though it is MINE** … Then I am just going to have to **teach you** how d*mn wrong you are the only way it will get through your thick, mafia-hardened, empty skulls."

"H-hey now, wait just a minute, kora-!" Lal mentally begged Colonnello to shut up, because she had already seen him dead once, she really didn't want to see it ever again, especially from his own stupidity. Well, their own stupidity because Lal was certain she was included in all those reprimands too.

Skull glanced leisurely over at Viper and Fon, "You two should leave. This building is not going to stay standing."

Viper teleported out in an instant and Fon gleefully abandoned them all in favor of saving his precious tea set. The Cloud pressure that had kept them all mostly in place curled inward to wrap around Skull like some kind of cloak of death. Skull dropped Verde back onto the floor, cracked his knuckles, and **smiled** the same kind of smile as the Varia's Prince the Ripper, "Lesson One."

And so began a hell that was, admittedly, four decades in the making and totally deserved.

Reborn, Colonnello, and Verde got the most of it. Skull blatantly showed bias in Lal's favor by only leaving her with a multitude of bruises and a broken arm because of how Lal had dropped to her knees in submission within minutes of experiencing Lesson One.

Colonnello didn't submit until Lesson Five —the part where Skull demonstrated how a proficient Cloud Flame user could, in fact, throw human beings as fast as a bullet and still somehow not kill them, just break three ribs and an arm—. Since Lessons One through Four had already left Colonnello with bruises on about ninety-percent of his body, the no-killing part probably didn't feel like a good thing.

Verde received even more abuse than Colonnello for the sole reason that he had tried to take Skull's bike —Skull had pointedly shouted "MY BIKE" every time the scientist took a hit— but had fewer actual injuries because of his ability to harden his body with Lightning Flames.

Reborn received the most abuse out of all of them, which was partially due to the fact that he didn't stop stubbornly fighting back and throwing insults —and here she'd thought Classic Lightnings were the biggest natural idiots of the Elements, not Inverted Suns— up until Lesson Final. Which was the lesson that blew Lal's mind for a second time in three weeks despite the fact she wasn't on the receiving end of it.

Because being blind to exactly how powerful and dangerous Skull was, was one thing, but for Skull to also be **Femme Fatale** , the most elusive and terrifying Mist assassin in the history of the Underworld?

Lal only knew she wasn't hallucinating because Fon —who had come to extricate Lal from the danger zone after she submitted to Skull— was choking on air beside her, just as astonished as she was.

The woman who was standing where Skull had just been smiled sweetly at the openly gobsmacked look on Reborn's face … then kicked him in the face with enough force to send him flying into the nearest tree. She —he? Was Skull the original alias or was Femme?— then calmly flipped her hair over her shoulder, surveyed the damage she had caused as Skull —the building razed to the foundation, several trees uprooted, and most of the other Arcobaleno in various states of pain—. Cloud and Mist Flames curled and receded, finally sated enough to allow everyone present to breathe in air not saturated in Killing Intent.

Femme Fatale's gaze flickered over each of them barring Viper, probing and intense, before her shoulders imperceptibly relaxed and with a flash of Mist Flames, Skull was standing before them again, "Alright. Now that lessons are over, here is what is going to happen. I am going to turn around, walk down that path back to **my** bike, and go catch up on all the sleep I've been missing. If anyone has questions, email Viper. If anyone wants to complain, do it amongst yourselves."

Skull glanced over at the shaking green-haired scientist before scanning the rest of them with equal ire, "Verde is not to show his face within fifty yards of my bike for the next ten months unless he wants to see what getting thrown into the upper atmosphere is like. If anyone else, especially **you** Renato Sinclair, wants to talk to me within the next three months, you had better bring one h*ll of an apology and a **lot** of bribery gifts. Otherwise I'm going to paralyze you and give you to Xanxus as a new shooting target."

Skull shot Reborn a scathing look, "And don't you **dare** say I can't. You were there when I was on that job in Rome as Femme Fatale, you know I don't make threats I can't keep."

Skull clapped … his? Her? Hands together and openly smiled —like a wolf baring its teeth— at how everyone barring Fon and Viper flinched at the sound, "We're done here. Fon, I'm going to have to reschedule our usual tea to next month at Varia Castle, Xanxus isn't letting any of us out of his sensing range."

Fon nodded, his expression back to some semblance of its usual serenity, "That will be fine. Though I must ask, how are you here if he is being so protective?"

"Who do you think is guarding my bike at the bottom of the mountain? Lussuria thought it would be a good excuse for a group picnic." With a brisk nod to Fon and then a jerk of the head to Viper, Skull promptly turned and began trekking down the mountain, uncaring of the injuries, chaos, and shattered world views —views even more upended than when they'd had ten years of future memories dumped in their heads— left behind.

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 **So ... yeah. That happened. Not the way I wanted it to, but okay. We'll double back to Reborn and the others coming to terms with Skull's revelation another day. In the meantime, cheer up with this preview of the next chapter!**

 **Preview:**

Hibari prowled along the sidelines of the driving course, still miffed that the Little Omnivore had somehow convinced him to come-

His senses tingled and Hibari stopped, gaze sharpening as he scanned the area again. Everything looked normal at a first glance. The herbivore Elements were arguing over who would get to take a turn after Little Omnivore, Little Omnivore was fluttering and squeaking over something while Purple Carnivore patiently coaxed him into action. Other than the setting, it all seemed normal ... except...

There was another carnivore in the area. Hibari was **sure of it**. He palmed his tonfas as he studied the area intently, trying to pinpoint the location of the unknown carnivore. His gaze eventually returned to where Little Omnivore was fluttering around Purple Carnivore and his instincts screeched.

Narrowing his eyes as curiosity reared its head in place of his previous aggression, Hibari unholstered his tonfas and stalked forward.

It would seem Little Omnivore had a good reason for fluttering this time. Though, no matter how much Hibari trusted his instincts, he had to wonder...

How did a motorcycle become a carnivore?


	8. Eighth Stanza: The Immortal's Scars

**PLEASE let me know if this chapter is, you know, readable. Because this is my third attempt to get fanfiction to actually upload the doc in a legible form rather than just a long stream of "/.,mnfbdiklhgdf" garble.**

 **Author's Note: Okay! Finally finished A chapter of Ballad. No, it's not the one with Hibari in it, I'm a bit (a lot) stuck on that one and this chapter was actually TALKING to me, so I decided to work on that instead. WARNING, this chapter has a lot of angst. It's also kind of ... dark. I mean, this is basically about how the Varia figured out that Skull's title of The Immortal was literal so ... yeah. There's a little bit of fluff at the end though. Review responses will be at the bottom!**

 **Also, totally random, GUESS WHO JUST DISCOVERED THE REPLY TO REVIEW BUTTON? Seriously. I've been on this site how many years and I never saw...? Whatever. Hopefully after this discovery, I can go back to my original plan of using the Review Response to answer to guests and use the Review Reply button to answer everybody else. Hopefully.**

 **Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Transformers, or any references made in this story. Only things I own are my OCs, my interpretation of Skull, and the plot.**

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 **Eighth Stanza: An Immortal's Scars**

 **Year: 2010. Season: Fall. Country: Italy. Age: Cursed. Timeline: FTNW.**

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Looking back, Skull was … surprised that it had taken as long as it did for the secret to come out. She was the best at what she did, but Varia missions were difficult to the point of insanity, especially when it was a mission given to one of Xanxus's Elements rather than any of the lower ranked members. Considering the danger and just how many ways things could go wrong on any of those missions, it was bound to come out sometime. From that perspective, it was impressive that she lasted as long as she did. Just a little over a year past her Harmonization with Xanxus.

The **way** the secret came out was a surprise as well —even though it shouldn't have at that point—. Not on a mission, but just … a simple misstep, a consequence of mafia life.

But to start from the beginning; the scenario was simple. It started with a Lussuria-mandated vacation to Mafia Land for Xanxus and his Elements. A break after a particularly teeth-grinding slew of missions for Decimo, assassinations and threats of assassination against a famiglia that refused to acknowledge Tsunayoshi's legitimacy because of his new way of running things. The vacation had been … nice. Even though Colonnello was on the island somewhere, Skull had yet to see him and watching Bel and Squalo fight over which attraction to go see next was hilarious.

Then, in the middle of Xanxus sizing up Squalo's head as the target of his latest wine glass, the explosions started. The Varia had rallied in an instant, weapons out and senses alert, trying to pinpoint the reason —the person— behind the disturbance. The invasion klaxons went off a few minutes later, but by then the Varia already knew about that because there were people gunning each other down in the streets. The attackers were hard to pinpoint, none of them were wearing a famiglia uniform, but rather an assortment of plainclothes or —infuriatingly— staff uniforms of Mafia Land. The latest invaders actually had brains, and had infiltrated Mafia Land rather than simply bombard the shoreline like so many previous attempts —the infiltration must have taken years of practice and patience to get so many inside—.

The Varia quickly carved out a corner of the battlefield and began expanding it with extreme prejudice, Xanxus's fury —how dare they interrupt his vacation— and glee —free targets to shoot— pounding through their veins like a second heartbeat. Skull flitted back and forth, sometimes in her Femme Fatale form, sometimes just as Skull Di Mort. Death followed her, either in the form of lethal illusions and expertly thrown toothpicks or in the blunt force of a Cloud swatting aside an annoyance.

Then she felt it, a spike of adolescent Flames in the midst of the chaos, distinct in its immature, frightened note. She gravitated toward it without thinking, Cloud instincts screaming to _protect-protect-protect-_ because mafia or not, assassin or not, no child should be left alone and unprotected in this kind of nightmare. She ran, fury in every line, driven by instinct and memory both — _memory of burning tents and broken screaming, of an orphan with no one to save her_ —. Enemies fell with broken bodies and crushed skulls as she honed in on the lost child and memories stung the back of Skull's throat — _it didn't help that it was late evening, it didn't help that there were fires everywhere, it didn't help that today was_ _ **The Anniversary**_ —.

The child came into view, tiny Rain Flames flickering as he cried beneath a fallen piece of carousel, ankles trapped and bloody. Skull heaved the debris away with a flicker of Cloud Flames, reached for the child to carry him to Lussuria for protection, saw a bomb land at their feet from where some amateur idiot was throwing them with poor aim.

It took less time than a thought's lifespan to coat the child in a protective shell of Cloud Flames and **throw** in Lussuria's direction —nevermind he was three blocks away and couldn't see her, she was a Cloud and she could throw as far as she wanted— with a warning, Cloud-enhanced scream of, "Luss, **catch-**!"

She felt the explosion rather than heard it, felt the wave of power and fire slam into her back and side and send her flying. She twisted, struggled to land in a way that would reduce the incoming damage to just broken bones — _too late already, she could feel the concussive damage to her organs, taste blood in her mouth_ —, hit the ground rolling-

Came to a sharp stop in an upright position, legs and arms sprawled, back pressed against warped metal of an attraction's fence. She felt it before she saw it, knew what had happened before she registered Silhouette's wail over their bond from the hold of the Varia's mega-yacht. It was too familiar to mistake for anything else. The way her lungs felt like they were scraping something with every breath she took, the pulse of agony — _dulled by experience, sharpened again by bitter dread—_ where her stomach should be, the taste of copper on her tongue. She didn't even need to see the long, warped piece of iron fencing sticking out of her — _tiny, toddler-sized, she'd lost her Mist form_ — torso to know it was there. Being impaled felt pretty distinctive and recognizable, once a person had done it enough times. She slammed her bonds shut from the agony and dread and resignation — _not again, she hated this, hated-it-so-much-but-she-_ _ **couldn't**_ _-_ _ **stop**_ —, only keeping it open long enough to send a pulse of, _"I'm fine, keep kicking aft,"_ to Xanxus and the others before she snapped them shut and closed her eyes.

She hated being impaled.

The fighting raged on around her, but she didn't bother to care. She just focused her Mist Flames back into her adult form, forced her lengthened legs to curl beneath her against the pavement, ignored the scream of pain that bubbled unspoken amid the copper on her tongue at the motion. Her fingers dug furrows in the concrete as she kept her silence, purple fire sparking across her fingernails as she took a deep breath — _shouldn't have done that always made that mistake it-hurt-it-hurt-_ _ **it-hurts**_ — and pushed with her legs.

For once, she was grateful for the deafening ring in her ears. She'd always hated the sound her body made when she freed it from this kind of predicament, and it was a small mercy that she didn't have to hear it this time.

She caught herself with her arms before her face could hit the pavement, spat out the mouthful of copper taste that had built up. Picked herself up and half staggered, half crawled to cover by literal force of Will. Her Flames surged through her, pushing and creating and fighting — _prolonging really, for better or worse that was all it ultimately did_ — against the injury while also trying to sustain her adult form. Once she reached cover, the adult form vanished, leaving her there, a tiny body in an unnoticed pool of shadows and growing red.

She lay on her side and ignored Silhouette's angry, frantic pushing against the bond shield, ignored the way Xanxus was slowly becoming worried by her prolonged silence over their bond. She lay there and breathed. And waited. Grey had taken over two thirds of her vision before she became aware that silence had fallen only to be broken by a demanding, " **Voi**! Skull, where are you? Get your *ss out here!"

She didn't answer. Couldn't. There wasn't enough air in her lungs by this point and if she opened the bonds they would **feel** her agony and she couldn't let them suffer too —not now, not when the element to element bonds were so new and novel, not when this would be their first time seeing this and that was terrifying enough—.

It was Belphegor who found her, nosy little blood-obsessed thing that he was. She could tell by the leer he sported as he poked his head into her cover that he'd been following the blood trail in hopes of finding an overlooked enemy to finish off. She watched, distant and numb, as the leer froze on his face as recognition hit. Then fell as **realization** set in.

She didn't think she'd ever heard Belphegor scream for Lussuria like that before. All glass-brittle composure and desperation instead of his usual arrogance and tantrum-threatening demand. There was a blink of time — _darkness encroaching, ready to swallow her whole yet again_ — and when her eyes opened again she was in Belphegor's arms, Lussuria's large palms pressed tight against her torso, Sun Flames creating heatwaves of desperation to fix what she knew was too great for them.

The others were crowded around, shouting and **furious** —at her for not saying anything, at whoever dared do this to **one of them** —. Only Xanxus was silent, hovering by Belphegor's elbow, the closest of them all save for Lussuria's frantic face and Belphegor's trembling arms. He was staring at her with a frozen expression, red eyes tight and gleaming with an emotion that could only be fear.

The agony was gone now, replaced by familiar numbness, and so she risked opening her bonds again. Silhouette had gone silent, just radiating sympathy and comfort as best she could. Everyone else's bonds were a clamor of panic. She reached out mentally to her Sky, felt the way he clutched her back over the bond, a stubborn, silent snarl of, _"Don't you dare. Don't you_ _ **f*ing dare**_ _. You stay right here. Right-"_

" _It's okay."_ Her thoughts were hard to catch and organize now, let alone narrow down to one bond, so the message wasn't just sent to Xanxus, but all of them, _"I'll be fine."_ There was a flicker of disbelief, — _grief, despair from Lussuria as he felt her falling_ —. She smiled and ignored the cold creeping up her limbs for as long as she could, _"I'll be fine,"_ she repeated.

The world got darker and the cold was suddenly wrapping around her bonds, strangling them until she could barely feel them. For the first time in a long time, Skull felt afraid of the coming black. Her Flames shuddered under the loss of warmth from her Sky and she latched onto the frost-coated bond in a sudden fit of desperation the likes of which she hadn't had in decades, _"Xanxus!"_

Sky surged back, angry and desperate, a lion's roar of, _"No-_ _ **no-NO-SKULL-**_ _"_ Echoing to her before the black snapped its jaws shut and Skull knew no more.

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The first half of the trip back to Varia Castle was made in silence. They'd left Mafia Land behind in smoke and more ruins than normal, their fury at the infiltrators swift and brutal all the way back to Xanxus's yacht —because like h*ll were they going to deal with idiots on a slow ferryboat—. Normally they would have stuck around and helped weed out the traitors, maybe racked up a few favors from the other famiglia's —like the famiglia of the baby Rain Skull had saved—.

But normally Belphegor wouldn't have been clutching a tiny, unmoving body to his chest the whole time, dried tear tracks barely visible on his pale skin. Normally the Varia wouldn't be in shock at the loss of one of their own.

It wasn't until they were on the ramp of the yacht that the silence was broken by Belphegor's breath faltering. The boy came to a dead stop, head snapping down to the body in his arms — _they hadn't been about to leave one of their own behind, even if she was no longer alive_ —, and fingers twitching before he hissed, "Lussuria."

The Sun looked over his shoulder, concern rising to the surface of his tightly leashed anger — _over his failure to realize Skull had been caught in that blast, his failure to find and help in time_ —, "Bel?"

The faintest flutter of Cloud Flames brushed against their senses, warming the frozen tips of the bond they'd assumed was dead and broken just as Belphegor rasped, "She's breathing."

Lussuria was in front of Belphegor almost before the prince finished speaking, his hands perfectly steady despite the wild disbelief everyone else could feel radiating off him. He peeled away the blood-soaked purple fabric of Skull's ruined jumpsuit. He stared. Took a shaking breath that sounded distinctly strangled, "She's breathing."

The confirmation from the Sun unfroze the others and they began to crowd until Xanxus snapped, "No! Everyone on the yacht first. We're headed home." _It isn't safe here._ Everyone accepted the unspoken reason and hurried onto the boat. Levi steered them out of port and back toward Italy as Squalo cleared the small dining table with an aggressive sweep of his sword hand.

For once, Lussuria didn't comment on the destruction of everything that had been on the table. He was too busy coaxing Belphegor into laying the tiny Cloud down on the marbled surface so that he could examine her properly. Deft hands peeled away Skull's jumpsuit again, revealing snow white skin slowly growing over the gaping hole in Skull's torso. The hole itself was already coated with the faintest shimmer of Flames, and as Lussuria ran tentative Sun Flames over it, the faint sensations of Cloud over their bonds increased in response even though the healing skin remained at a crawl, "Her organs are growing back," Lussuria breathed, "I think … her Flames are keeping anymore blood from escaping while her body heals itself."

Squalo was still, dangerous and coiled like a snake about to strike despite having no enemy in sight, "You said her heart stopped."

Lussuria glanced over his glasses at Squalo, "It **did**."

"Then how **the F*CK** -!"

Xanxus growled, deep and warning, and everyone stilled, "It doesn't matter. She's breathing now. Lus, Viper, keep an eye on her. Squalo, help Levi. Bel,"

Red-stained hands twirled twin knives in a nervous but stubborn gesture, "The Prince stays."

Xanxus paused, then dipped his head in permission. He stared down at Skull for a long time, watching the rise and fall of a tiny chest, clinging to the barely shivering —but **alive** — Flame bond. Then he turned and left without a word, aiming for the back of the boat where they kept the emergency vehicles.

He needed to have a long talk with Silhouette.

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Dying was always the same. No matter how it happened, darkness always came and swallowed her whole, after which she would … drift. Not really gone —there was a precipice in the black, just off to the side, one she always skirted, true death as she perceived it— but not aware of the world outside either. Her only link to life were her Flames. Purple and indigo light, diffuse and ineffective at lighting her way, but comforting all the same. Her path back to the rest of the world, once whatever had killed her was healed enough that waking up would not send her straight back into shock from the pain.

There was no time in the black. There was just … existing. Waiting. Fighting the lure of the black.

She didn't know how long it was before the glow of her Flames brightened and drew her out of the black. It could have been minutes, it could have been hours —there was always a moment, right on the edge between dying and waking where Skull would feel afraid that it had been years, that everything around her would be gone and have left her behind—. Then she pulled free of the black and became aware of her body and reality again.

She breathed, felt the steady push and flow of air in undamaged lungs, listened to the thrum of her heart in her chest, beating a steady note. A silent twitch through her fingers and toes proved that her spine was alright and she didn't feel the thick, angry fog around her thoughts that came from a brain injury or broken skull. It took another few seconds to remember how she'd died this time, and another second after that to blink her eyes open and tentatively open the frosty gates to her bonds.

Silhouette radiated sad calm and loving welcome like always, but it was almost drowned out by the flood of _angry-confused-relieved-_ _ **angry-angry**_ _-_ that erupted from the other bonds in time to a sudden cacophony of shouting. The emotions and shouting jolted through her body like adrenaline and she made to sit up only to be held down by a large hand that radiated Sun Flames and concern and … guilt?

Skull's hands clamped on the fingers of the one holding her down and opened her eyes the rest of the way. She stared. She was in the Varia medical wing, one of the luxurious private rooms reserved for Xanxus and his Elements, all of whom were crowded around her bedside like reverse-vultures. Lussuria was hovering over her, a round of meaningless babble that flowed from soothing to scolding to soothing again falling from his lips as he pressed his Flames deeper into her body.

She shivered at the intrusion —usually the only Flames around were hers or an enemy's when she woke up, she'd never been near friendly Flames after "dying" before—, then gasped when Xanxus's Sky coiled tight around her like a possessive dragon, "Chibi," growled Xanxus as his Elements went silent, "we need to talk."

Skull eyed him uncomprehendingly, "About what?"

Squalo looked almost ready to explode, hands gesticulating a crazy storm as he roared, "Voi! The f*ck do you think it's about? You **died** Skull! You died and then your heart suddenly started f*ing beating again by itself after Lussuria declared you **dead**! How the f*ck did you **do that**? **Why the h*ll didn't you tell us**?"

Skull couldn't stop the laugh —old and broken and bitter— that escaped her as she shifted to her adult form and pushed Lussuria's hands away, "Oh that. What's there to say? I'm pretty sure you just saw everything you need to see, and I **did** tell you what I am. I've told **everyone** what I am since the day I walked into that thrice-slagged Arcobaleno meeting for the first time."

She smiled, bright and false as her gaze jumped from face to face, lingering on Mammon who was hovering by Xanxus's shoulder before settling on her Sky, "I am the **Immortal**. The stuntwoman that **Death hates**." Xanxus's Flames tightened with emotion and Skull looked away, smile gone, as she murmured, "It's not my fault nobody believes me. Besides. The Arcobaleno knew."

"We did not," snapped Mammon tightly and Skull laughed again.

"You didn't? None of you? You didn't put the pieces together in Dubai? In Rome? In **Siberia**? I wasn't as good at staying alive back then as I am now. I thought for sure you'd picked up at least that much, even if you still thought of me as the Lackey." Mammon flinched under her cloak, the rest of the Varia grew even more somber and upset. Skull tried to grasp why but couldn't —this was a part of her life, she had never hidden it so even if they hadn't figured it out before, why was it so upsetting to learn now?— and Silhouette's spark-deep sadness didn't help explain anything.

Xanxus's expression was frozen, his entire frame stiff, and it was Squalo who aired the question with a suddenly too-quiet voice, "How many times?"

Skull blinked, not understanding. She could function right after waking up, but really she needed food and a nap —proper nap, not the death sleep— before she got back up to full mental speed —the black always numbed everything, thoughts and emotions and words, even if she hadn't suffered a head injury to get there—. Squalo twitched, then repeated, "How. Many. Times. Skull? How many times have you died?"

"How many times total? Or since joining the Varia?" She blurted without thinking. Xanxus's Flames physically shuddered and Lussuria's hand clamped tight on her shoulder. All of her bonds seemed to keen in unison and Skull resisted the urge to curl in on herself in shame. She didn't know why they were reacting so poorly. She hated dying, of course she did. But she always crawled her way back and Silhouette had always taken care of her until she did, then kept her safe and warm and loved until she recovered the nerve to go back out into the world until death came for her again.

"Answer the question, Skull," snapped Levi on behalf of the still-frozen Xanxus and Skull sighed.

She ran a hand through shaggy purple hair, "Since joining the Varia? This is the first time. Xanxus would have felt it if I'd died earlier. Total…?" She counted in her head, then stopped and admitted quietly, "You know … I don't know anymore. I lost track somewhere, I think. I could give you a rough estimate I suppose, just let me take a quick count…" Skull shifted, fingers touching the fabric of her shirt as she subconsciously traced each line and divot and ripple on her skin, fingers tracing up her spine and neck as she mentally tallied the scars that couldn't be seen except with an X-Ray.

Her mental tally stopped around twenty when Lussuria took her hands and clasped them in shaking palms. Something trembled over their bond, like tears and storms and clouds covering the sunshine, "Skull," he wavered and she mentally sat up at the lack of a cutesy honorific, "are you telling me that all of your scars … are fatalities?"

She studied their linked hands, then looked up at him in bemusement, "Yes? You've seen my healing factor Lus, have you ever seen me scar before?" Lussuria's fingers went white around her hands, Skull examined them with a blank sort of curiosity and wondered if he was going to accidentally break her hands from squeezing so hard as she continued, "My Flames usually heal everything too fast for it to scar, but when it's a fatal hit, they get … too busy. Keeping my blood in, making more blood, stitching up whatever got broken or shot or stabbed this time. Even I don't have enough Flames to do all that **and** worry about regrowing my skin as good as new. So it scars. My bones scar too. Little lines from fatal breaks and web patterns in the places where they shattered and crushed something important. My Mist Flames push them back into place and my Cloud welds it all back together again good as new except for the little lines."

Squalo made a strangled noise and Bel —who had wiggled onto the bed at some point— wrapped his arms and legs around her like a gentle, careful, but clingy octopus. Xanxus hissed, low and dangerous and agonized, like he was the one who'd been impaled recently and not Skull while Levi just radiated intense discomfort. Mammon settled on the foot of the bed, lips white under her cloak and thoughts racing too fast for Skull to catch over their new bond.

Lussuria though … Lussuria worried her. Somewhere in her ramble —her tongue was always too loose right after waking up, like being tipsy drunk without actually being drunk—, his end of the bond had gone very carefully blank, had shut down so she couldn't feel anything from it. Skull watched as the Sun delicately unwound his fingers from hers, stood, and … left the room. Just … left the room. No instructions, no scolding, no promises to return in a moment. Just turned and vanished out the door. Skull stared after him and wondered what she'd done wrong now. She couldn't think of anything and Silhouette was suddenly too depressed to answer her.

She looked over at the others, "Did I say something wrong?"

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Lussuria stayed in control until he reached an empty training room —it hadn't been empty when he got there, but one whiff of his seething Flames and the occupants had fled—. Then he broke.

His fists slammed into anything they could reach, bags, walls, equipment, he didn't care. He threw broken punching bags and embedded disk weights into the walls as his Flames seethed and screamed and Raged. _Failed._ Hissed something in the back of his head, _failed, failed, blind,_ _ **blind**_ _,_ _ **failed**_ _-._ Sun Flames surged in and out of his skin like a solar flare as he rampaged across the training room, trying to work off the energy building inside him so that he could **think** past the fury and shame in his head.

He'd known about her scars. Of course he had. He was the head medic, he saw to all of Xanxus's Elements personally and had their files memorized down to blood-type and date of their last check-up. He'd also known about her healing factor, it was **noted down** in her file, in the place where he put all the warnings about how his patient's Flames might aid or complicate treatment. _"Rarely even needs stitches"_ he'd written, _"broken bones are healed within hours or less"_. He'd been excited then, pleased over such a strong, durable Cloud to protect Boss and keep up with Xanxus on missions.

So why, **why** had he not even stopped to wonder how she'd gotten so many scars?

Scars on her neck vertebrae, hairline marks all down her spine and ribs and along her skull, bullet and grenade divots over her shoulders and back. Long-healed gashes over her chest —down her chest from collarbone to sternum like a scalpel **don't-think-about-it** — and legs and across her **waist** —bisection, that's why the scar went almost all the way around, she'd nearly been **cut in half** —.

All of the Varia had scars. Even Mammon had scars littered across her tiny body. Some of them had more than others and since Skull had been alive for decades Lussuria had just assumed they were a consequence of being in the mafia world for so long. They never seemed to bother her despite their number, so he hadn't questioned it. Hadn't even stopped to consider, to put together, that with a healing factor as potent as hers … how had she gotten scars in the first place? How many times and in how many ways had she died before meeting the Varia only to drag herself back and keep going?

Too many. Far too many. Now that he was thinking about it, now that he'd realized-. There were so many ways and the signs were all there. Impalement, slit jugular, shrapnel in the bones and lungs, crushed ribs, shattered spine, near-bisection, burns —smoke inhalation?—, ruptured organs, those **scalpel marks** — _afraid of doctors and medical equipment but hides it well, prior negative experiences likely,_ Lussuria had written like a blind, unthinking **fool** —.

He couldn't even begin to picture —didn't want to, didn't want to imagine— just how many times it had taken, how many repeated ends that had been healed over and merged so that one scar was indistinguishable from the one beneath it. How many times it must have taken before Skull could adopt that blank, resigned attitude toward it and all the symptoms that came with it —chronic insomnia, lack of self-preservation instincts, touch-wary, mildly touch-starved, nightmares, oh **Sky what must the nightmares be like** —.

And. He. Hadn't. Seen. It.

Not until Skull's pulse had stopped far longer than a normal human could survive and then restarted itself. Not until she'd gone too-still in Belphegor's arms despite all the Sun Flames Lussuria had been pumping into her. Not until she admitted that she'd **lost count** of how many times it had happened and she'd woken up from it —alone, always alone, she'd had no real Famiglia until then and Mammon said the Arcobaleno hardly ever interacted—.

Lussuria came to a stop, chest heaving and the room around him ruined. Reached up underneath his glasses to press his hands against his eyes. Tried to breathe past the clawing fury and sense of failure that ate at his insides.

He was the Varia Sun Officer. Head medic and the only thing akin to a therapist they had. He'd always been overprotective, always tried to help those he considered his own in any way possible. When the others had started calling him "team mom" as a joke, he'd joked back that he was too young and handsome to be their mother. But when they'd changed it to various forms of "big sister" instead, he'd taken the title and run with it. Worn it with pride because **that was his job**. To make them feel safe enough to joke, to keep them healthy enough to laugh. Everyone in the Varia had problems Lussuria couldn't fix —Belphegor's mental instability from childhood abuse, Levi's self-worth issues, his own eyesight, Squalo's hand that the swordsman had stupidly cut off just to name a few—.

They were all messed up, blood-thirsty assassins with issues piled up by the mile, but at least with those problems he could be there. At least with them he could take their minds off it, even if it meant acting silly and wildly over the top. At least he **knew** about those problems and could plan for them, make allowances for them, do things in secret to make it easier on them because he was their Sun and **that was his job**. To fix whatever he could and give energy to survive the rest.

He thought he'd done that with Skull. Thought he'd had their Cloud, —their newest, their rookie for all she had decades of experience on them outside the Varia— figured out and accounted for. Skull had insomnia and often worked herself to sleep tinkering with her bike. He'd figured it was a Cloud thing, a way to unwind when she started to feel crowded and it was too late at night to go running off into the countryside, so he'd made sure there were always snacks and spare blankets and pillows in the garage and called it good. He didn't want to crowd her after all, even if she was an Inverted rather than a Classic.

Skull was reckless and had little self-preservation. Most Clouds were like that, she had an enhanced healing factor and she'd survived so far, so he'd assumed she knew her limits. Kept his fussing to normal levels and only ran checkups once a month to make sure nothing serious slipped under the radar. He knew she disliked doctors and medical things, but a lot of assassins did —it implied helplessness and a failure to do their job right—, so he made sure to run the checkups himself and talk his way through the process. Since Skull had never thrown him through a wall for it, he'd thought she was acclimating to it.

Skull was touch-wary and mildly touch-starved. Well, they were the world's best assassins, being touch wary was just common sense. As for being touch-starved, that was a pretty common problem among their field. It came with being always on guard for an attack and not letting other people too close. He'd assumed that, since she was used to them now and her bonds with them had solidified, he'd be able to remedy that like he did with the others via spontaneous affection —everyone knew he was touchy and liked to randomly hug or pat or hair-ruffle the others, just like he knew that they only protested as a matter of course and didn't retaliate too violently because they trusted him and subconsciously appreciated it—.

Skull had nightmares. Well, who didn't? One of the reasons Lussuria took his job as Sun so seriously was because that was one of his own coping methods for it —he also stress cooked. It was always gratifying to see the products of his stress used to keep his fellow Elements and his Sky healthy—. There was nothing he could do about nightmares except make sure Skull had places to which to retreat. He'd offered sleeping medication once, but Skull had turned him down —and oh, how similar was the forced unconscious of sedatives to slipping away toward death? People often called death an eternal sleep after all—.

So many things. So many things that he'd passed off as the usual brand of trouble for those in the mafia. So many things that were **worse** than he could ever imagine because he hadn't seen that **Skull was immortal**. Hadn't considered what that meant.

How often was her insomnia triggered by memories of dying? How much of her negligence over her own health and self-preservation was because she'd started taking it for granted that she was going to die either way and then come back from it with only another scar to show for it? How many instincts and flashbacks had he unknowingly almost triggered when he coerced her into a checkup? How much of her touch wariness was healthy paranoia and how much were suppressed memories of being killed?

How many times had his surprise hugs and grabs mimicked a lethal assault and why hadn't she told him? The others always had. Squalo didn't like being approached from the side of his sword hand —didn't want his weapon pinned in case of assault—. Belphegor tolerated hugs from any direction but got violent if hands came too close to his crown and bangs —fear for his eyes, fear for his only proof that he really was a prince and not a reject—. Levi couldn't be hugged at all without a violent panic attack and at most could only tolerate an arm linked with his or someone leaning against his shoulder when on the couch. Xanxus barely tolerated any form of physical affection at all and it was only recently that Lussuria had been able to get away with leaning briefly against Xanxus's side when walking with his Sky.

Everyone had things they could and couldn't handle and Skull had to have more than most —she'd **died** , repeatedly, if that wasn't flashback fodder nothing was— and yet she'd never said a word. Why?

And how could Lussuria fix his oversights now that the information had been slapped in his face?

Lussuria took a deep breath. Then another. Carefully tucked his Sun Flames away and left the ruined training room. He had things to do. Starting with finishing his conversation with Skull.

Lussuria tracked the location of the others through his bonds. They weren't in the medical bay anymore, but were instead in Xanxus's private sitting room, the one he and his Elements used to relax and watch television without risk of being interrupted by the lower ranks. He entered the room to the sight of Skull's adult form being sprawled on the couch, her back pressed against Xanxus's side and Bel curled possessively in her lap and Mammon perched on her shoulder. Squalo was fuming in a nearby armchair and Levi was brooding in a corner while Skull just looked bemused over their fussing, "-fine now. Seriously. I just need a cup of coffee or something. Maybe a long nap, then I'll be ready for missions again-"

Bel growled and hugged her more tightly around the waist, Lussuria watched Skull carefully for any signs that the constriction was reminiscent of a fatality. Skull didn't react to the royal octopus in her lap, but instead lifted her head from Xanxus's shoulder to watch Lussuria in the doorway. There was a flash of unease in her expression, then confusion and wary regret —usually he had to work harder to decipher her expressions, was that a side-effect of dying too?—, "…Luss- _nee_?"

Lussuria moved closer and carefully knelt in front of the couch, "I think we need to have a talk, Skull-chan."

Skull made a face, "…Xanxus already lectured me about not keeping quiet when I take a bad injury and making sure I have backup whenever possible and taking my own safety more seriously on the field even though I'm immortal. Everyone took turns yelling at me for that last one. I'll be more careful next time. I know that had to be horrible to feel on your end of the bonds…" her voice trailed off as Lussuria reached under his glasses to pinch his nose, "Isn't that why you're angry at me?"

Lussuria's head snapped up in shock. He wasn't the only one either. Shock was rippling over all the bonds. Skull thought he was angry at **her**? Lussuria glanced at Xanxus, who's lip curled as he reluctantly filled in his Sun on what they'd learned while Lussuria was gone, _"Chibi's not all there right now. Too chatty and obtuse. Says it's a side-effect of waking up after-. After. Apparently all the essential things get woken up first, but the rest of the sh*t, like social skills and reading other people's emotions, take a while to click back into place. She says she usually hides out in a safe house until everything gets up to speed in her head."_

There were so many implications to that, Lussuria almost needed to get up and leave again. He reined himself in and took Skull's hand gently "Oh, Skull-chan~. I'm not angry at **you**. Well, I'm angry that you thought it was acceptable to lie and say you were fine when you needed immediate medical help -don't **ever** do that again- but I'm not… I didn't leave because I was angry at you. I promise."

Skull's forehead wrinkled, "Oh. Alright then." She paused, tilted her head to one side, "What do we need to talk about then?" Her tone was almost childish.

Lussuria took a deep breath, then shook his head. Talking to her in this state wouldn't do much good. She wasn't acting like herself yet, was missing things that Lussuria knew she could normally figure out in seconds, "Later, dear. We'll talk later." He paused, eyed their positions on the couch, then settled on the opposite side of Xanxus. Lussuria kept a very close eye on Skull as he lifted her legs off the cushions to put them in his lap instead, waited for any hint that the touch had negative connotations to her. Instead, there was a flush of surprise and happy contentment from his bond with Skull. He warily settled his hands on her ankles, waited for a negative reaction —he remembered her file, he knew that there were scars on her legs and ankles from who knew what fatality—.

She watched him with a bemused expression and when she saw that he was watching her in return, she smiled, "This is nice. It's a pity that Sil can't join in-." Skull cut herself off, looked around guiltily before pretending to play with the hair on the back of Bel's head —well away from the precious crown that none could touch—.

Lussuria filed the nickname away to ask about later. He was tempted to ask now, to push when he knew Skull was acting borderline drunk and would probably answer even if she normally wouldn't. But a quick pulse of command from Xanxus kept all of the Varia silent on the slip. Still, it was the first time Lussuria had heard the name, and considering the context … perhaps Skull hadn't always been alone when waking up from death? Perhaps there was a contact out there that he could glean more information from about Skull's tells —because apparently he didn't know them nearly as well as he'd thought—.

The Varia settled like that. All missions on hold while they clustered around their Cloud with the possessiveness of a pride of dragons. One of the others turned on the television and Bel, stunningly, didn't demand that someone turn the channel to something bloody and violent. Skull drifted off in minutes, her bond calm and warm. So much better than when it had been icy and still, like a dead thing even as Lussuria had watched her vitals slowly crawl back up to acceptable parameters-.

Lussuria took a deep breath and tried not to think about that. Instead, he began carefully plotting out a new strategy for handling Skull's issues. The others began to join in once he started quietly muttering aloud. It was clear that he'd have to go for the more obvious route for some things, such as what kinds of touch she was alright with. He would have thought that someone as fierce as their Cloud wouldn't tolerate anything truly uncomfortable, but Mammon pointed out that Skull had let the Arcobaleno do basically anything they wanted as long as it didn't involve her bike.

Levi tentatively suggested keeping Skull on team-only missions for a while and playing it off as Skull protecting the others rather than them keeping an eye on her until they managed to beat some self-preservation back into her head. Lussuria added that to the list of ideas right alongside redesigning one of the medical rooms to look as little like a medical room as possible just for Skull. Maybe even build one near the garage. It would be harder to keep sanitized, but being near her Territory and escape routes would probably help with any suppressed flashbacks and it could prove useful for treating any emergencies that came back from a mission.

Bel had rolled up one of Skull's sleeves in her sleep and was idly tracing the delicate burn scars there as he murmured that once Skull was better, it would be time to go hunting. Everyone paused at that, and Bel smiled his biggest not-smile —the one that meant he was too furious to even throw a tantrum— as he pointed out that considering Skull's tendency to let people walk all over her, there were probably still people out there who had … hurt … their Cloud. That those people would have to be taught a long-overdue **lesson**.

All of the Varia stilled at that thought and Levi made a doubtful noise until Xanxus growled, deep and furious, "Once Skull is recovered. We're going hunting for trash."

The rest of the Varia murmured agreements and Bel gave a quiet but vicious laugh. Perhaps it was petty, or even pointless, to go hunting for people who had caused harm to their Cloud long before she was theirs, but they all needed some stress relief after what had happened.

And if the ensuing rampage both warned people away from touching the Varia's Cloud and cleaned up quite a bit of the trash that had been bothering the Decimo lately, who would protest? Certainly no one that mattered.

For now though, they just clustered around their newest and plotted while she slept onward obliviously, a contented hum emitting from her end of the bond that helped chase away all-too-recent memories of strangled, deathly ice.

* * *

 **Hope you all enjoyed and seriously, let me know if this chapter is readable. Thank you!**

 **Review Responses: Dear AyameKitsune, hello! Well ... you did have to wait a while, but here it is! I hope you enjoyed it!**

 **Dear Cheshire333, hey there! Well, I may get stuck on it for a while, but I've not given up on this story! I hope you enjoyed the latest update too!**

 **Dear NightBringer325, greetings! Honestly, Skull took it EASY on them considering all the stuff she's put up with from them for decades. Still. Just deserts were finally served. Hmm, maybe not quite a beat-down. He is, after all, Tsuna's Cloud and Fon's grandkid, but there will probably be some Cloud vs Cloud action.**

 **Dear Dreamer Rose, hey there! Better late than never right?**

 **Dear buterflypuss, greetings! Why, thank you!**

 **Dear Smoukii, hi! Glad you enjoyed! It's fine, it was actually really cool getting a review in another language.**

 **Dear SphereShadow, hello! You're welcome! I hope you enjoyed this one too!**

 **Dear robina852, heya! (tips hat) glad you thought so!**

 **Dear Hopeshard, hello there! Aww, thank you for saying that! I hope you liked this update too!**

 **Dear wolfsrainrules, heya! It really would. Xanxus would not settle for any less than a five-course dinner, even if it's eaten out in the middle of nowhere on a blanket. Man has standards. Despite how dark it was, the arcobaleno's deaths were ... kinda fun to write? Hard, but interesting to see how many different ways the World's Greatest could have finally met their end. I also really wanted to show why Lal is so ... intense in the anime. (snickers) has stopped working. That's gonna take a while for his pride to recover from.**

 **Dear Cyber-Kanochi, hi! Happy to hear it! (sighs) I know it's been basically a year since I last update this, but hey, at least is 7,000 words long? Also, yep, that was a Ratchet reference and they are ABSOLUTELY going to be an unholy alliance of awesome when Ratchet get's to Earth. The human patients will have nowhere to hide once Skull's on Ratchet's team (evil laughter). Hopefully you enjoyed it and (hopefully) it won't take me so long to put out the next update.**

 **Dear** **bloodshound, greetings! (grins) I love it when people get a rush trying my stories at random. I know what you mean, the anime is so painful to watch and the manga's not much better. Still, that's what fanfiction is for, to dispense come-uppance and fix the many problems of canon. Lemme think back on my plot notes ... I believe that Silhouette has only been in Skull's family since her father's time, considering that was around WWII. MAYBE her grandfather's time, but I'd have to check my notes and going that far back would make it ... kinda tricky to hide a motorcycle from space. I'm TRYING to expand the Hibari interlude, but the stupid Skylark won't talk to me. As for the bleeped out curses ... yeah, I preferred those too, but they were a pain to write and enough people complained that I went to a slightly less bleeped version. Oh well. Glad someone enjoyed the retro style.**

 **Dear Jade Celandine, hi! Part 1 is the chapter "What Never Was" and it deals mostly with Skull and the Varia rather than the Arcobaleno. It also gives Skull's death in the future timeline in greater detail. It should be chapter 5 I think.**

 **Dear bookimp, hey! (sighs) Still working on that chap. Sorry. Hopefully you enjoyed this one anyway?**

 **Dear finediviner, hello there! (tips hat) Why thank you, it was a lot of fun to write!**

 **Dear foxchick1, heya! Yep. Hibari's instinct borders on Vongola Intuition sometimes I swear.**

 **Dear natt7, hello! Ummmm ... assuming Google Translate didn't its job for once, thank you! I hope you enjoyed this update too!**

 **Dear mokona-pyuh, hi! You have no idea how flattering it is that someone would prep tea and cake just to enjoy my chapter. NO IDEA. Thanks! I almost threw up my hands and gave up around Reborn's POV, but I figured I'd come that far, might as well go the rest of the way. I'm glad you enjoyed all the POVs and world building (and my OC, I was worried how people would take An-Chen). I literally wrote that entire chapter JUST to get to the part where Skull kicks butt and takes names. Still working on that chapter with Hibari, but he's well ... not talkative. I hope you enjoyed this dose of angst instead!**

 **Dear Bookmeister999, heya! Truly, 'tis one of the greatest mysteries Hibari has ever faced. (chortles) See you next time!**

 **Dear May Eve, greetings! (tips hat) happy to hear it!**

 **Dear gella, hi! Honestly? I think all their Lightning Flames kinda shorts out their long-term self-preservation. They're used to being able to shrug off damage, so they don't stop to consider consequences anymore. At least until Skull reminds them that there's always something meaner than them.**

 **Dear aaa, heya! Ahh, I love it when a review shows that I did my job perfectly. Hope you enjoyed this new chapter too!**

 **Dear FlameGilgameshLover, greetings! Heh, well ... I tried to update soon? Seriously I did. But ... yeah. Hope you enjoyed anyway!**

 **Dear iRaine, heya! Aww, thank you! Skull's become a favorite character to play with, even if she's so hard to write sometimes... Hope you enjoyed the update!**

 **Dear Bikutoria Coco13, hey there! (nods) I know, it's tricky to keep track of sometimes. But when it's the Future That Never Was timeline, I always put that in the chapter rundown right under the chapter title, to help keep track.**

 **Dear kagewolf25, hello! Glad you like it!**

 **Dear huskielover94, hi there! Ehhh, that might be a while. I need to take a break from the FTNW reactions. I tried to get away from the angst entirely but (gestures to the chapter above) this is what the muses wanted so...**

 **Dear AzureLazuli, hello! You're welcome! So glad you enjoyed!**

 **Dear , greetings! Well ... I finally updated? Finally. I hope you enjoyed it!**

 **Dear James, hi! Ehhh, not sure when/if I'll get around to Reborn's POV. He's a pain to write. But maybe someday. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


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